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Page 6
The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch
May 10, 2013
... City Council Bashed Over Paid Parking Expansion
FROM PAGE 4 parking lot is 80- to 90-percent full and pointed out at the rate of $1.50 an hour condo owners and/or their visitors will be paying at least $20 a day to park on the street. In making the decision to install paid parking on 146th Street, the Mayor and City Council took into consideration observations that most of the license plates on vehicles parked on the street are “day trippers” taking advantage of the free parking in north Ocean City. “We do not require our owners to be Maryland residents,” Deacon said. “Thus one cannot assume that parked cars are day trippers from out of state. Some are Ocean Place owners or relatives perhaps from another state.” Deacon concluded Ocean Place does not appreciate the city making such a decision without the condo owners being notified beforehand. “We could have sat down, not in the few minutes we have in a council meeting, but if we could just sit and talk through this thing I think it would have been a lot better,” he said. “There have been many statements that you don’t want to harm residents of Ocean City, and your paid parking policies is to make revenue not to harm residents … I just wanted you not to forget that we are residents even though we don’t live on the bayside.”
Econo Lodge Oceanblock General Manager Austin Purnell spoke in opposition of paid parking on 146th Street as well as the other streets chosen. “I feel it is counterintuitive to our tourism industry,” Purnell said. “It is already expensive enough to vacation here in Ocean City.” Purnell furthered the hotel directs its guests to park on 146th Street when they come to stay with more than one car as their parking lot allows for one space per room. “I feel you are passing the problem onto the consumer,” he said. “I understand there is a need for additional revenue streams for a certain financial situation, but I feel this, however, is an odd place to look for it.” Ocean Place condo owner Michael Feen agreed with Deacon’s argument but added there are other ocean side streets that would bring in more revenue for the city versus 146th Street, such as 142nd Street, that has two lanes, an ingress and egress, and 70 spaces compared to 40 spaces on 146th Street. “That is a 75-percent increase in the number of parking spaces. If the big issue is revenue … then we are missing out on 75 percent here,” Feen said. “If it was done in an open and fair process … and that is the way you came down on it, well then I might not like it but at least I would accept it because it was done openly and fairly.” Councilman Joe Mitrecic asserted 142nd Street was not chosen as it has residences on both sides of the street as many other ocean side streets do along Ocean City. “The streets that were picked, 49th Street abuts the Ocean Pines community parking for the beach, 131st Street has businesses on both sides of it, 146th abuts the state line, so really why that was picked … and any other street in town was not picked because they are residential on both sides of the street,” he said. Mayor Rick Meehan also took the time to point out all council meetings and agendas are posted and allow for a fair process as there is time made in all meetings for citizen comments. “Ocean Place takes up the whole block [between 145th and 146th streets] so if you go to 145th Street there are 62 parking spaces on that street that abut the Ocean Place property, so I think that was taken into consideration that there are 62 spaces that are there that wouldn’t be paid parking,” Meehan said. A voice that has not been heard yet was from Crab Bag owner Nolen Graves, whose restaurant is located on 131st Street that was also chosen to have paid parking installed. “I was told that this is going to benefit my business by encouraging turnover,” he said. “I don’t want my people to leave my restaurant to encourage turnover. When they are done, then they will leave.” Graves argued if the town is making decisions to implement new paid parking based on benefiting businesses, officials should look to starting with Ocean City’s own businesses, such as the Roland E. Powell Convention Center. “There is no other city I know of where you get free parking when you go to events,” he said. “I heard you’re afraid that it would hurt the convention center business, but then I’m told that is going to help mine but you don’t want them there because it will hurt yours.” Graves is worried this year’s expansion is only the beginning of more paid parking being added throughout town. “Call it what it is. It is a tax. If you call it a tax, it is not going to be popular, but once those parking meters get installed, they are never coming out,” he said. “A couple years down the road when the assessments go the other way things going to turn around again … until then you want the parking meters to make up the short fall … what is sounds like is the decision has been made, these meters are going in whether we like it or not, and we are going to have to get used to it.”
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