CAPE MAY – The annual cycle of change in Cape May is one where a quiet town of just over 3,000 people morphs into a bustling resort that, on any summer day, has close to 50,000 people in residence.
One of the areas most impacted by this change is parking. Every visitor to Cape May knows it, and the city’s master plan notes it as a challenge.
Cape May City Council May 4 heard a report from City Engineer Vince Orlando concerning a possible change to one-way traffic patterns and the use of angled parking on New Jersey and Stockton avenues. The issue was up for discussion, and not for any intended action by the council.
The proposal presented by Orlando would add 66 parking spaces on the two streets through a combination of one-way traffic and angled parking on the south side of the street.
Orlando said there was no consideration given to adding parking meters. He also said he was not asked to do an assessment study of the level of need for more parking in that specific area.
Public comment was mostly in opposition to the proposal, citing disruption to neighborhoods, the clash such parking arrangements would have with the streets’ historic ambiance, and the potential problems with basic services, like trash collection.
