Sea Bright Mayor Questions Parking Plan

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By Liz Sheehan
SEA BRIGHT – Mayor Dina Long has asked the Borough Council members to make changes in the new paid parking system that was installed for the beach season in municipal parking lots.
Under the new system, the borough charges $1 an hour from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day in beachfront municipal parking lot, the Anchorage parking lot and the Borough Hall lot.
In a letter to the council read by the mayor at the end of the June 21 Borough Council meeting, Long said she had not spoken out against the plans for the system because “I refrain from using the dais for my personal agenda.”
She said that what she wants for the town is the “greatest possible good for the greatest number of people,” so, although she might not agree with a policy the council wants, “I take the hit for the team.”
Speaking after the meeting in May, during which the parking system was approved, Long responded to a reporter’s question by saying, “I personally don’t like it,” referring to paid parking. She said she only goes to towns that have parking meters if she has to, and is against paid parking in Sea Bright because it affects access to the beach and the openness of the town.
However, she said, the residents of the town were under a heavy tax burden to pay to restore the buildings lost in Sandy and funds from the metered parking would ease that burden.
But this is now a case where, Long said, she feels she must express her opinion. The metered parking program is posing problems for businesses, residents, guests and members of the church in the town, she said.
“We are in recovery mode,” Long said, referring to the town’s recovery from the damage done by Super Storm Sandy.
Earlier in the meeting, Long said she was glad that Councilman Brian Kelly, in his report to the council on the metered system, had said that he was going to ask for feedback on the program.
After the June 21 meeting, Long declined to identify which changes she has asked the council to make, and said she wanted them to have a chance to respond to her request at the next council meeting on July 5.
Chris Wood, the owner of Woody’s, a restaurant on Ocean Ave. and Church St., came to a council meeting earlier in the month to complain about the paid parking hours, originally set to end at 6 p.m., now being extended to 9 p.m. The late hours of paid parking would “drive people out of town” and affect businesses. “It’s driving business away already,” Wood said.
He said “the three summer months are basically our Black Friday,” and the evening metered parking hours were cutting business down.
The paid parking system, which has replaced free parking in the town lots, was approved by the council in May. Councilmen Jack Keeler and John Lamia, Jr., voted against it. Keeler said he was for it but said he believed the borough should take more time to look into it before taking any action.
Lamia said, “I think we are premature,” in putting the system in place. “It is late in the day,” just before the beach season begins, he said, to install the meters.