Cape May Puts Parking Permits on Hold

CAPE MAY — City Council amended an ordinance April 22 passed last year that allowed issuance of on-street parking permits to reserve a space in front of certain homes that did not have a driveway.
Changes to the ordinance stipulate that a person who resides in Cape May on a part time basis and rents their property any time in the year will not be eligible for an on-street parking permit for any portion of the year. A part time resident will qualify for a permit only for five consecutive months which would include a fee for removing the sign designating the space after the resident leaves town for the year.
The ordinance change notes no more than one on-street parking permit may be issued for any building regardless of the number of units. Council also passed a resolution placing a moratorium on accepting additional applications until the ordinance is in effect which is 20 days following adoption and publication in a newspaper.
Before council approved the ordinance changes, a North Street resident complained about the elimination of a parking space for multi-unit buildings. He said the problem of deciding which unit owner gets to use the single reserved parking space could be decided by a building’s condominium association.
North Street resident Irene Price said the ordinance was so restricting, “that it may have the unintended consequence of having a street that requires permit parking only and nobody qualifies for a permit.” She said that may be the situation in her block of North Street.
Price suggested council examine how other cities handle similar parking situations.
Innkeeper Jay Schatz said seven spots were reserved on Gurney Street and all were for rental properties.
“You just explained the purpose of this amendment which is to remove the commercialization aspect of it,” said Mayor Edward J. Mahaney Jr.
He said the intent of the original ordinance was to provide parking for residents who had no available on site parking.
Councilman Niels Favre said the intent of the ordinance was to help people that had a real hardship, not to increase the value of a property by giving them a parking space.
DeCatur Street resident Kate Emerson suggested council wait one year before amending the original ordinance to see how it works this summer.
Another resident said he paid $10,000 per year in property taxes for his 120-year old Victorian home and needed to rent the property since he could not afford to live in Cape May on a full time basis. He said rentals fees did not cover one-third of the mortgage.
“I can’t think of anyone that better deserves to park in front of my house than me,” he said.
Other residents suggested a dashboard placard rather than a sticker on cars to denote a reserved parking space, so other family members who use a house would be able to park their car.
Bob Behn, a member of the city’s Parking and Traffic Committee suggested council not pass the amending ordinance but send it to a committee.
Mahaney said of 44 parking permit applications processed, no more than 10 or 12 met the real intent of the ordinance. He said the city would honor applications that have already been submitted this year.
The mayor agreed a committee should be created to come up with a solution to meet everyone’s needs, maintains order and a good traffic flow.