DEWEY BEACH, DE — A new public parking lot may soon come to the bayside of Dewey Beach, following town commissioners' recent approval of a conditional-use permit for the site of the former Ivy Restaurant on Dagsworthy Avenue.
The property, which was initially discussed for residential development, will house the public parking facility operated by Highway One—the same company that manages an adjacent lot on the same property.
Image from Conditional Use Application Form
According to the conditional use ordinance the parking lot will operate 24 hours a day, and the parking lot will be cleaned once a day.
Business owners in the area say more parking is certainly needed.
“We all want customers, we all want people to come out of state and come here, and park here—more business. A rising tide raises all ships,” said George Markopoulos, owner of Delmarva Board Sport Adventures. “So parking is only good—to have more space for more customers to come into town—and that’s good for all businesses.”
Summer traffic has already started to pick up, and local workers say the timing is right.
“Even just these past few weeks, it seems like there’s more people coming in compared to last summer, and we definitely do need to add some more parking in,” said Nick Gerace.
“I think sometimes it’s a little bit difficult, especially during the holidays, to get some parking,” he added. “And I think adding some more will help everybody.”