Some councilmen don’t want contract renewed after headaches surface
SOMERS POINT — Opponents of paid parking in city-owned lots on Bay Avenue are wondering what’s taking the city so long to eliminate it.
Resident Judd Moore asked what was the holdup, noting City Council voted unanimously to add a resolution ending the contract to the agenda Sept. 22 but then voted 5-2 to table it.
Moore and his wife, Nancy, told The Sentinel they believe requiring motorists to pay to park in the lots is bad for residents, bad for business and bad for the city.
Parking is always a struggle in a shore town with popular restaurants such as Somers Point, but Moore said the parking fee has made it even worse. Now people park in the lots only when they can’t find a spot on the street, taking those spaces away from residents.
He said the parking fee hurts all of the businesses by turning away potential customers who don’t stop because they can’t find a free spot.
“It’s not the best economic development strategy to have in a city like Somers Point,” he said.
Nancy Moore said she and her husband have a bird’s-eye view of the parking lot near Smitty’s Clam Bar, where she said she would see fishers and boaters, families and friends coming and going. Now, she said, they’re empty.
Referencing the old city slogan “Small Town Charm by the Bay,” she said, “we’re losing our charm because we’re not a destination town.”
Instead of being like other towns, Somers Point should welcome people to local businesses by providing free parking, she said.
City Council approved ordinance 7-2021 on April 22, 2021, establishing paid parking at three city-owned lots on Bay Avenue and a contract with ParkMobile for collection of fees. It was a one-year contract with an option for two one-year extensions.
According to the ordinance, the city saw an opportunity to earn revenue and determined the practice “would not be detrimental to the businesses, recreational uses or neighborhoods.”
City Council President Janice Johnston said at the time the city’s Parking Committee decided it could be “a great source of revenue,” adding it is a common practice in shore towns and the city was missing an opportunity.
Johnston had said there was no financial cost to the city and no obligation to continue past the one-year commitment.
The lots offer 113 parking spots and are located at Annie Avenue near the Clam Bar, across Bay Avenue from the Gateway Playhouse and across Higbee Avenue from the theater.
Complications with getting signage in place prevented the city from implementing the program in 2021, so City Council decided to wait until spring 2022 to begin charging for parking.
Moore said the revenue — $11,800 from May through September, according to records he obtained through an Open Public Records Act request — fell far short of the projection of $150,000.
“Even if police hammer people with tickets, is that the right thing to do?” Moore said. “I want them to make a decision and to do away with people having to pay for parking.”
On Aug. 18, Councilman Sean McGuigan addressed the issue during discussion of old business, saying he would like to repeal the ordinance.
Johnston agreed that the program had not worked as planned but said it did not cost the city any money. City solicitor Tom Smith recommended adding the item to the next agenda.
McGuigan said there was “very little resistance” to his recommendation that the contract not be renewed and that the ordinance allowing for the fee be revoked.
“We took a straw poll in which nobody objected to add the resolution and ordinance repealing the paid parking ordinance to the next agenda,” he said Thursday.
Instead, only the resolution regarding the ParkMobile contract was on the agenda with no sign of the ordinance.
On Sept. 8, Johnston said she believes the city should continue with the contract until it expires May 26, 2023, and that solutions could be found for any issues that have arisen.
Councilman Joe McCarrie said it would be beneficial to analyze the matter further before deciding to cancel the contract.
Councilman Howard Dill said he had received many complaints about paid parking and that he would vote in favor of terminating the contract.
Councilman Rick DePamphilis mentioned receiving complaints as well, saying he does not think the revenue collected was what was anticipated.
Council then voted 5-2, with Dill and McGuigan the only dissenters, to table the issue and send it back to the parking committee for recommendations. They have yet to be presented.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff