REHOBOTH BEACH, Del.- A long-discussed parking garage in Rehoboth Beach is closer to becoming reality.
On Friday morning, the city's Parking Garage Task Force will meet. Task Force member Carol Everhart--the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce President/CEO--anticipates the group will discuss the proposal's logistics. According to past presentations, a developer would fully fund the garage, lease the garage property from the city, and share a percentage of the revenue with the City of Rehoboth Beach.
"How would this actually work," says Everhart, referring to the questions she anticipates will come up at the meeting. "How it's being built, when it's being built, how much would the parking be? How much would the revenue division be between the company that's building it and the city?"
Everhart says the garage is strongly desired by local businesses, with the Chamber of Commerce's board unanimously supporting the proposed garage.
"The issues are still there with regard to where the employees can park," she says. "The issues are still there with the perception by the visitor that there is no parking, so let's just not go into downtown Rehoboth and that's not good for downtown Rehoboth business."
If the garage goes behind the city hall/convention center as planned, it's not clear how it could impact future lot projects, such as a new mural and the soon-to-be dedicated Steve Elkins Way. First State Crane Vice-President Max Robichaud thinks the location is a bit small for bigger vehicles.
"I drive an F-350 which is a four door pick up and it's long. They've got a little bit of an island in there getting in and it's tight," he says. "For small cars and tourists that have small vehicles, it'll work fine but for the locals that have pickups and stuff, it's not too conducive."
Longtime visitor Mark Zaitz believes the garage will pay for itself.
"I would say even coming here in the 80s, 90s, that circling this area looking for parking existed 30 plus years ago," he says. "So to hear that question: would I support a parking garage? Absolutely."
The task force meets at 9 a.m. on Friday at Rehoboth City Hall.