Cape May’s Parking Tension Remains

CAPE MAY – City Council moved its governing body meeting to Facebook April 7 due to the spreading COVID-19 contagion. Despite the new meeting method, one of the issues that motivated public comment was parking.
Two measures were on the agenda that dealt with the city’s perennial struggle with parking. One proposed changing the metered parking on Washington Street, directly across from City Hall, to 15-minute parking for those conducting city business.  The other would alter traffic on Bank Street to one way, as an effort to better utilize the narrow street to support traffic, parking and deliveries to commercial establishments.
Both prompted numerous calls and emails, as City Clerk Erin Burke tried to manage public input to the virtual meeting.
The attempt to introduce an ordinance on Bank Street’s traffic flow failed, as public objections led the council to remove the ordinance from the agenda. One resident’s email accused the council of engineering a “sneak attack” on the Bank Street issue while the public was sequestered at home.
The proposal to change the meters across from City Hall was a discussion item at the council work session. It, too, generated strong opposition from the few residents able to comment during the meeting.
No actions were taken on either issue.