STONE HARBOR – According to the records at the joint municipal court located in Avalon, Stone Harbor issued 1,247 parking tickets in July compared with 317 in the same month in 2022.
Paid parking in Stone Harbor begins May 1 and runs until Oct. 1. So far since May 1, the borough has issued 2,704 tickets, with 564 in May and 893 in June to add to the July total. For the same three months in 2022, the total for the three-month period was 398, making a 579% increase over last year.
These numbers represent all parking tickets and not just meter parking, yet there is no reason to suspect that parking in a space that does not allow parking or blocking a driveway are the kinds of actions that would account for the huge jump in tickets in 2023. The culprit is the implementation of ParkMobile as the sole means of payment for parking in the borough.
Complaints from motorists range from difficulty with loading and using the ParkMobile app to a lack of signage providing information on how to pay for parking. Many complain about arriving in the borough without knowledge about the change in parking systems.
There is no reason to suspect that drivers coming to Stone Harbor have less ability to adapt to using the app that is successfully used in other county communities, yet adaptation requires knowledge and time. Stone Harbor elected to implement its change with no overlap with its old meter and kiosk system and went live May 1 without any means to ensure the word reached second homeowners and regular visitors in advance about the change.
The Borough Council voted down a motion to declare a parking holiday, has discussed an alternative payment protocol for senior citizens but left that for committee investigation, and instituted a parking ambassador program with one police officer patrolling the business district to help motorists download and install the app. That one police officer is followed by others who are still writing tickets in accordance with the parking ordinance passed by the council.
Like a wildfire, this problem will burn itself out with only 1 1/2 month left of paid parking in the borough. How much damage it may have done, if any, to the business community and the borough’s image as a welcoming tourist destination is unclear.
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
