VENTNOR The cost of parking permits in Ventnor will increase tenfold under an ordinance introduced Thursday, Oct. 8 by the Board of Commissioners.
If approved, the ordinance would raise the cost of two-year parking permits to $20 from the current $2. Payment would be due in even numbered years for a period of two years ending Dec. 31 of odd numbered years.
The permits exempt city residents in the North Beach area, the city's most populated area, from parking time limits. The city issues about 6,630 parking permits each year for an estimated 650 parking spaces available in the area. North Beach is the only area of the city that has a parking time limit.
It was in May this year that the board expanded by three blocks the area where parking permits may be issued to include streets near the soon-to-open Ventnor Square Theater and restaurant. It also increased parking restrictions to four hours, up from two hours previously. Although residents are anxious to see a theater return to the city, they are concerned patrons will take up parking spaces leaving them with nowhere to park near their homes.
Parking permits are currently available in the area bounded by Jackson Avenue, Victoria Avenue, and the north side of Winchester Avenue to the boardwalk.
The board has held several public forums about the parking permits, and in October 2019 doubled the cost of permits to $2. The city had considered limiting the number of permits available in the zone and limiting the number of passes available to residents of high-rise buildings but maintained that anyone could purchase permits.
Residents can purchase parking placards at the Police Department for every vehicle in the household, plus two guest stickers.
The parking restrictions were put in place with the advent of casino gaming more than 40 years ago, when casino employees were parking in the North Beach neighborhood and taking the jitney at Jackson Avenue to their jobs in the city.
A public hearing and adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22.
In other fee based business, the city held a public hearing and adopted an ordinance increasing the cost of beach tags purchased before May 31 to $10, up from $7, and $20 after May 31, up from $15.
It also approved an ordinance requiring anyone submitting development applications to the Planning Board to do so in digital format so documents can be posted to the city's website for public review.
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