By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City’s popular parking permits will cost more this summer.
City Council on Tuesday approved a price increase for both the seasonal parking permits and the weekly parking permits.
The cost for seasonal permits is going up from $200 to $250, while the weeklies are increasing from $30 to $50.
The daily price for metered parking, however, will stay the same – 25 cents for every 15 minutes.
Council President J.B. Feeley said the price increase for the permits reflects the higher cost for the city to operate the parking system and enforce the parking laws.
He noted that additional revenue generated by the price increase will help the city maintain the parking meters and the kiosks and paint the lines for the parking spaces around town.
Available on a first come, first served basis, the permits sell out each year. In 2018, Mayor Leonard Desiderio increased the number of seasonal permits from 300 to 400 to meet higher demand. The city will sell 400 permits this year, too.
The permits allow drivers to park in the metered spaces through the bustling summer tourism season. Drivers who have permits may park continuously, including overnight, in any metered space or at any metered parking lot, except for the 15-minute spaces and at the library at 48th Street and Central Avenue, according to the city’s website.
Seasonal parking permits are transferable from vehicle to vehicle, allowing them to be shared by friends and family members. The city forbids the permits from being resold.
All parking meters and kiosks are in effect from May 15 to Labor Day. However, the parking permits save motorists from the hassle of feeding the kiosks or meters with cash or change.
The city was also planning to raise the rental fees for boat slips at the municipal marina this summer, but that price increase has been delayed until 2021, Feeley said.
He said the paperwork needed for the higher boat slip prices was not completed in time for this summer.
When the higher rental fees do go into effect, the slip prices for boats up to 18 feet long will increase from $1,530 to $1,766. For boats 20 feet long, the fee will rise from $1,700 to $1,940.
For boats 30 feet long, the price will go up from $2,550 to $2,810 and for 40-foot boats, the rates will increase from $3,400 to $3,670, according to a city ordinance.
Featuring 87 boat slips, the marina on 42nd Place has been improved in recent years with new landscaping, docks, a boardwalk, an open-air pavilion and public restrooms.
