SEA ISLE CITY – The price for a seasonal parking permit in the city is going up by $100.
The City Council set the new price for a seasonal permit at $350, up from $250, at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Sea Isle charges for parking from May 15 to Labor Day.
The ordinance setting the fee originally called for a $200 hike, but following a public hearing in which several residents strongly opposed the new price, the council lowered the increase to $100.
Resident Doug Adams told the governing body that $200 was a steep increase for many seniors on fixed incomes. Adams and other residents urged the council to table the ordinance and reconsider the need for any increase.
The ordinance says that the city will have a limit of 450 seasonal parking permits available this year; they are available on a first-come basis.
City officials maintained that an increase in the fee was necessary to keep the permit parking program viable, an argument that led members of the public to ask how much the parking program costs on an annual basis.
Officials including the city administrator and members of the council did not have that information available, causing one resident, Jim McCullough, to chide the council for not knowing. “How can you run a program and not know how much it costs?” McCullough asked.
The required public hearing on the ordinance went on for almost an hour. A suggested alternative to the price increase was to keep the current price for year-round residents while increasing it for visitors. But city solicitor Paul Baldini said it would be illegal to have tiered pricing that favored residents.
As members of the public made clear, parking in the summer months has become increasingly difficult in Sea Isle. The seasonal permits are a coveted prize and, for some, a necessity, depending on where in the city they reside. The permits sell out each year; they are not allowed to be resold.
At times the hearing became heated. At one point a resident asked the council, “What do we get for voting you into office?” He mentioned the recent increase in beach tags and added, “It doesn’t seem to me we get much.”
McCullough told the council that it needed to rethink this. “You did not think this through,” he argued.
Another pressed, “The system cannot sustain itself without an 80% increase? We are building a $20 million community center.”
Even after the council reduced the fee increase from $200 to $100, some members of the public used the end of the public comment period to continue their opposition.
“You could have tabled this,” Adams said. “You chose not to.”
Councilwoman Mary Tighe responded to the criticism by comparing the proposed price of $450 to the cost for those who use individual parking meter spaces. She said the average revenue from a metered parking space over the summer months is $1,400. She also argued that Sea Isle remains competitive with nearby shore municipalities even with the increase.
The city’s budget shows that in 2022 the revenue from parking meters totaled $252,699. The 2023 budget’s anticipated revenue from meters was $240,000.
While the budget still refers to parking meter revenue, those parking in the city during the season must pay for it by using the ParkMobile app, which was introduced in 2021. Following a one-year overlap with its old meter system, Sea Isle removed the meters and kiosks in 2022.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio was absent from the meeting. Desiderio’s report to the council, which was read by Administrator George Savastano, made no mention of an expected vote on parking permit pricing.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
