REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - A potential end to Meterless Monday and changing time limits at some prime parking real estate. Those were just some of the ideas discussed in Rehoboth Beach Monday.
Commissioners spent almost 4 hours going back and forth about parking during Monday’s workshop. All the ideas were regarding the 2022 parking season, which begins in about four months.
Parking is free right now, but the start date to meter season could come earlier than usual and stay longer.
Commissioners discussed a potential April or May start to meter season with an end date around Halloween. That was just one idea mentioned during the workshop.
"I did a survey of about 8 communities. We are far from the shortest parking season. We are leaving money on the table, we are giving it away. We are letting visitors park free in Rehoboth where they can't anywhere else,” said Commissioner Susan Gay.
Another idea was passing an ordinance that would allow people with a parking permit to leave their car for up to 8 days in non-metered areas, like neighborhoods and side streets. Current code is only 2 days, and that's leading to some confused, and ticketed, drivers.
"With the code now, a visitor comes into town they purchase a weekly permit. They park on the street and they leave it for that week without coming back to it and they are unaware the property owner can contact that city and request the vehicle be removed,” said project Coordinator Evan Miller.
Some commissioners are worried if this changes, people will buy permits with the sole purpose of leaving their cars in Rehoboth, but staying the week in nearby Dewey, where parking is a lot more limited. But that proposal as well as the meter season was tabled.
Commissioner Gay says meterless Monday was a great thing to do to get people back into town in the early days of the pandemic, but commissioners would like to see it go away.
"There's a revenue consideration as well, to my recollection its $170,000 the city loses to meterless Mondays,” said Gay.
All of these ideas are just that, still ideas. Those with the city say the last time they discussed extending the season, there was a lot of negative feedback, so they do not plan on rushing a decision. The workshop also mentioned making parking rates consistent throughout Rehoboth. The price currently varies depending on where you park. Along with meterless Monday, they plan to do away with "take out" parking spaces. But again, nothing was decided on Monday.