By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Residents and visitors took cover under their umbrellas while lining up Monday morning to buy Sea Isle City’s ultra-popular parking permits on the first day they went on sale for the summer vacation season.
“There were umbrellas everywhere,” said Jennifer McIver, the city’s chief financial officer.
Reflecting the heavy demand for the seasonal permits, the line began forming outside in the drenching rain well before the doors to the city’s Community Lodge were scheduled to open at 9 a.m. to begin the sales.
McIver said the decision was made to begin selling the permits at 8:35 a.m. to get everyone out of the rain as quickly as possible.
“In the pouring rain, nobody complained,” she said. “It went very smoothly. I would say that by 9:05, the line was gone.”
As of Monday afternoon, the city had sold 399 of the 450 parking permits that were available to the public, McIver said. The remaining permits will be sold at the City Clerk’s Office on the second floor of City Hall.
This year, the permits have increased in price. Previously they cost $250, but the city has raised the price to $350 each. There is a limit of three permits per buyer.
Despite the price increase, the seasonal permits are a bargain compared to how much it would cost to use the individual parking spaces over the entire summer, city officials said. On average, an individual parking space generates about $1,400 in revenue for the city each summer.
“Even with an increase, it’s quite a savings if they use it all season,” City Clerk Shannon Romano said of the parking permit.
New for this year, parking permits are transferrable, allowing friends or family members to share them for different vehicles. The city previously was more restrictive by limiting the permits to specific vehicles.
“Now they can pass it around from vehicle to vehicle, instead of limiting them to specific vehicles,” Romano said.
Sea Isle charges for parking from May 15 to Labor Day during the summer tourism season. The seasonal permits allow drivers to park in the municipal lots and individual parking spaces, saving them from the worry of getting a parking ticket.
Because of their convenience, the parking permits prove popular year after year and always sell out. In previous years, Mayor Leonard Desiderio has issued an executive order to increase the number of parking permits that are sold to meet higher demand.
Normally, high demand for the parking permits is an indication that Sea Isle is primed for a strong summer season – just like with the robust sale of beach tags.
Parking is at a premium during Sea Isle’s bustling summer tourism season, making the permits a highly coveted prize. The city forbids the permits from being resold.
Romano urged motorists to keep an eye on their permits, because they would have to pay the regular price of $350 to replace them if they are lost or stolen.
Sea Isle also sells weekly parking permits. The price for weekly permits is rising to $80 each for this summer, compared to $50 last year. There is no limit on the number of weekly permits that motorists may buy.
Romano said motorists will get an extra day this year with the weekly permits. Previously, they were good for seven days, but now motorists will be able to use them for eight days.
The city decided to extend the weekly permits to eight days because many of the weeklong vacation rentals in town run from Saturday to Saturday, Romano said.
Drivers who don’t have seasonal or weekly parking permits must pay using the cashless ParkMobile app that was introduced in Sea Isle in 2021. Sea Isle got rid of its old parking meters and kiosks in 2022 while transitioning to the ParkMobile system.
There is another option for people who may not feel comfortable using the app. They may call a toll-free number listed on the ParkMobile signs to speak to the company’s customer service center and use their credit card to pay for parking over the phone.
