Parking Meters Irk Business Owner

WILDWOOD ─  “I just wish someone would have told me,” said Wildwood businessman Donald Long Jr. as parking meters were installed on two side streets beside Duffer’s Restaurant. The restaurant is owned by the Long family, and he questioned the rise concerning city practices. 
Long wishes that city officials would have asked for his opinion on the installation of parking meters and would ask the business community at large for “our opinion on things.”
Long’s concerns are for customers who may be deterred from Duffer’s attractions due to parking.
“It’s not right to pick on people,” Long said. If meters are not paid, tickets may be given, and customers may not return.
According to Long, the city’s “making-ends-meet” measures are difficult for business owners.
Long pays four mercantile licenses while trying to keep prices reasonable for families to enjoy a “safe” atmosphere, he said.
Commissioner Anthony Leonetti told the Herald that parking meters have been “on the list for a couple of years.”
According to Leonetti, many residents “want those meters” and have come to him with their complaints.
Leonetti described situations where visitors of private residences have “planted themselves” in parking spaces for entire weekends, making the limited spaces even more scarce.
Abuses of handicap parking have also not gone unobserved. “It’s our world,” said Leonetti.
Leonetti disagrees with Long on the matter of customers possibly being deterred. “Does a meter really stop me from going to Duffer’s ice-cream?” Leonetti hypothesized.
Because of Wildwood’s free beaches, Leonetti believes that savings are available to locals and guests.
As present and future meters stand along Bennett, Hildreth, and Leaming avenues, Leonetti believes that the changes are “positive” and “will make the system better.”
To contact Rachel Rogish, email rrogish@cmcherald.com.