STONE HARBOR – The chamber of commerce is asking the borough to do whatever is necessary to make the paid parking situation in town a “more positive and user-friendly experience.”
The request, made to the Borough Council at its Tuesday, Dec. 19, meeting, came in the aftermath of the borough’s switch from parking meters and kiosks to the ParkMobile smartphone app as the way to pay for parking in and around the business district during the summer.
The initial implementation did not go as planned; by the end of August 3,409 parking tickets had been issued, compared to 748 the year before.
According to the chamber, the organization’s welcome center on 96th Street received a constant flow of complaints from visitors who were angry and frustrated at their parking experience.
The organization suggested several ways to ameliorate the problem, including offering a kiosk option without the use of the app, more user-friendly signs and a part-time “information ambassador” who could help those without the app deal with the 877 call-in number as a payment alternative.
The ticketing situation got to the point that the joint municipal court that Stone Harbor maintains with neighboring Avalon had to hire a part-time worker to handle the added load. By the end of the parking season, fines collected for Stone Harbor parking violations totaled $110,015, up 257% from the previous year.
Several members of council took the position voiced by Councilwoman Bunny Parzych that “we may be over the roughest patch” and that acclimation to the app will follow.
Council President Frank Dallahan pointed to the high success rate of people using the app, a success rate that Administrator Manny Parada put at over 99%.
But a shop owner who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting recounted using her own money and time to pay for parking for some of her customers who had difficulty dealing with the app.
She argued that her experience with customers led her to doubt the claimed 99% success rate. “It is simply not possible,” she said.
There was complaint that press coverage, which was national as well as local, contributed to the public relations problem experienced by the borough over the ticket increase.
Parzych singled out the Herald’s coverage, saying that easy access to Stone Harbor’s meetings via video streaming may be a factor in why the borough got more coverage than Avalon. But Avalon has the exact same video access and remote public participation capabilities for its governing body meetings.
Parada also pointed to the Herald’s coverage, saying the paper did not report the borough’s touting of its success rate. But a Herald story in September reported Councilman Reese Moore’s presentation about the success rate and his comment that revenue from parking was on track with the previous year.
The administrator said 180 new signs were on order, which should deal with the complaint from some who were ticketed that signage was absent. The council also agreed to have Parada explore the potential cost of using kiosks in tandem with the app.
At least one resident who spoke at public comment agreed with the sentiment that people will get used to the app. “Stay with what you have,” she urged. “Going back is not the answer.”
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
