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Rose Divney, a clerk-typist in the City Clerk's Office, shows off one of the seasonal parking permits up for sale.

By Donald Wittkowski

Get ’em while you can.

Sea Isle City put 100 additional seasonal parking permits up for sale on Tuesday, prompting what is expected to be a rush on City Hall.

“They’re going to go like hotcakes,” Police Chief Tom McQuillen predicted.

Costing $200 each, the permits allow drivers to park in the metered spaces through Labor Day. They save motorists from the headache of fumbling for loose change to plug the meters and from the worry of getting a ticket.

“You don’t have to pay the meters,” McQuillen said.

Mayor Leonard Desiderio signed an executive order to increase the total number of seasonal parking permits from 300 to 400.

“There is an exceptionally high demand this year for the parking permits,” Desiderio said at the City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Council followed up by introducing an ordinance consenting with the mayor’s executive order. The permits will be sold on a first come, first served basis.

Costing $200 each, the seasonal permits allow drivers to park in metered spaces through Labor Day.

Parking is at a premium during Sea Isle’s bustling summer tourism season, making the permits a highly coveted prize.

City Business Administrator George Savastano expressed hope that high demand for the parking permits is an indication that Sea Isle is primed for a strong summer season.

The permits are transferable from vehicle to vehicle, allowing them to be shared by friends and family members. The city forbids the parking permits from being resold.

According to city regulations, the permits must be hung on the rear-view mirror. They allow drivers to park continuously, including overnight, in any metered space or at any metered city parking lot.

However, the special 15-minute metered parking spaces must be followed and there is no overnight parking at the Cape May County Library parking lot at 48th Street and Central Avenue, the city’s website says.