OCEAN CITY, Md. -- Ocean City, known is set to change its approach to parking enforcement, signaling an end to the days of easily skirting paid parking. The town aims to bolster its revenue by cracking down on unpaid parking, a move that has garnered support from the local community.
Numerous locations throughout Ocean City require payment for parking, with the Ocean City Police Department responsible for enforcement. However, Terry McGean, Ocean City's City Manager, acknowledges that issuing citations for unpaid meters is not a top priority for the police.
"Really for them, rightly so, that's not a high priority," said McGean.
With a decrease in enforcement, a noticeable problem emerged. People were taking advantage of the lax approach, parking for a day at the beach without paying through the designated app. In the past two years, the town experienced an approximately $83,000 dip in parking ticket revenue, prompting the need for a more robust approach.
To address this issue, a Parking Division is being established, comprised of part-time employees solely focused on parking enforcement. A full-time parking manager will also be hired by the town.
Max Anderson, a local resident, expresses the need for stricter parking regulations, emphasizing the significant revenue loss due to the lack of enforcement.
"I feel like Ocean City needs to be a lot more strict when it comes to parking because it is a large loss of revenue that they are missing out on for just not enforcing something that they said they would," said Anderson.
Transit Director Robert Shearman will oversee the Parking Division, aiming to consolidate responsibilities and streamline operations. Shearman emphasizes that the focus is not only on revenue but also on efficiently managing the expenses associated with running a parking division.
"It's really more about putting it all under one roof, having one person in charge and more so accounting for the expenses of running a parking division more so than the revenue," said Shearman.
Annually, paid parking generates $6 million for the town. This initiative is seen as a strategic move to ensure consistency in revenue collection. However, the implementation of the Parking Division comes at a cost, estimated at $450,000 for the first year and $330,000 annually thereafter.
Despite the initial expense, McGean anticipates that increased revenue from more consistent parking enforcement will offset these costs in the long run. The goal is to get the new staffing system in place by April of 2024.
People only have to pay for parking in Ocean City from April 1st through October 31st.