Parking at a premium along the shores of Downbeach. A new movie theater in Ventnor will only intensify the battle over limited parking spaces. That’s why residents packed Ventnor City Hall chambers on Thursday night, Feb 13.
Feedback requested over potential new parking rules within the North Beach (NOBE) section of Ventnor.
North Beach, NOBE, is the area in Ventnor that includes Jackson Ave to Frankford Ave, from beach to bay.
The long awaited, Ventnor Movie Theater slated to open Spring 2020. Comfy seats. High-tech sound, burgers and a bar. One large screen & two smaller ones.
320 movie seats. 190 restaurant seats. 17 parking spaces. Do the math.
Side Note: Many, like us, were told the meeting started at 6p. The city sent out a public memo announcing the 6p start time. Actually, the meeting started at 5:30p. Luckily, we can watch the posted video. Kudos to the city for implementing the new, City Hall Chambers video system.
The huggable Rich Gober of Ventnor’s NOBE neighborhood thinks a parking garage should have been considered for the soon-to-open theater.
AirBnB. Vrbo. These short-term rental properties both contributing to the parking challenge says Gober. Some still not registering their AirBnB with the City of Ventnor.
Ventnor Parking Puzzle. 600 spaces for 4,000 permitted vehicles.
Driveway curb-cuts also reduce parking availability. Some households use more curb space than others. Some vehicles (large SUVs and pick-ups) take up more space.
Current Status of Ventnor Permit Parking:
- Cost of $1 dollar per permit. That will soon change.
- Residents with multiple cars. Each vehicle can get a permit.
- Unlimited amount of permits available per household.
- Rental residents entitled to parking permits. Guest permits, too.
- Permitted cars can park with no time limits.
- Every NOBE business employee can get a permit.
For Comparison: Sea Isle City charges $250 for a parking permit. They have hard limit of 600 total permits sold.
So far, mostly unattractive options to address the Ventnor Summer parking problem.
- Eliminate permits for Ventnor Northbeach high-rises
- Go to 3 hour permitting
- Eliminate parking permits all-together.
- Limit amount of permits per household
- Compel homeowners to use their driveway
Commissioner Kriebel: North Beach is an exception. Is that fair?
City will study what, if any, impact there’ll be when the movie theater potentially opens later this Spring.
Bike lanes can potentially affect parking spaces too.
Next step: get more input from citizens. Another meeting and workshop will be needed. City will collect more data from Ventnor Parking Department.
Ventnor Police Chief Biagi: No ultimate answer. This is gonna hurt some people, no matter what. It’s gonna help some people… no matter what.
Eliminate permit parking for NoBe high rises???? We pay some of the highest rate of taxes and we are going to lose our right to a parking permit??? !!! ???? That will only make resale of our homes more difficult, the prices might fall, and that means Ventnor property values fall along with it! I am not saying we should be rewarded with a parking permit because we pay such high taxes, I am saying to please consider us and give us what is our right as Ventnor Residents!
As a unit owner of a high rise unit in Ventnor, I urge that we continue to be given the right to purchase the parking spaces for our guests. We should be treated no differently than other home owners. Especially during the summer months, we as tax payers have as much need and right as all Ventnor home owners. I would have no problem if the fee would be increased but as to all Ventnor residents. Thanks
Most homeowners do not park in their driveway. There should be a limit on the number of permits so homeowners have to use their driveway thereby reducing the number of cars in the street.
My husband and I live in a high rise in north beach. We are 75 and 78 yrs old.
Without a permit to park our second car on the street we would have to walk a distance every time we come home. Seems very unfair and potentially dangerous. We pay exorbitant taxes for a small apartment in ventnor and deserve the right to be able to park close to our building.
We were told that the city was going to buy the property across from the movie to build a parking lot. What happened to that plan? That would have solved the parking problem. Instead it’s become our issue.
Why would you give a building permit without a plan for parking. Then make it our problem.
I do realize that parking spots will be overwhelmed for the summer season at all Ventnor locations. I don’t think that discontinuing permits for North Beach Ventnor (NBV) section will alleviate the situation but it will significantly further inconvenience owners in the NBV section. Visitors without permits will park indefinitely as they can everywhere but it’s even more of a problem in NBV because of the density (3 high-rises within a six block area). Other than expanding the limit to three hours (movie-goers) and limiting the number of permits to two I would leave well enough alone. Each permit would come with only one guest pass. Permits should cost $100-$200. This would discourage some from getting that extra permit.
As a resident in one of the 3 high rise buildings, where we pay alot of real estate taxes for a small condo, I think that it is appalling to think that we might not be able to purchase a parking permit to park our car on the street in Ventnor. Raise the cost of purchasing parking permits to $100 and limit the number of guest passes to each household.
Bring Jitneys to Margate and Longport so people who live there who are going to the theatre don’t use up our spots. Run them heavily on weekday evenings and on weekends.
As a tax paying resident in a Ventnor high rise, it’s unconscionable to even consider eliminating our option to purchase a parking permit. How is that fair? Our building parking lots cannot accommodate all our summer visitors and street parking is often our only option.
After going to the meeting at City Hall Parking I was told Permits are not / have never been available south of Frankfort Ave – But they are considering extending it to Victory Ave – Ridiculous my neighbors and I can’t get parking permits when traffic on Weymouth, Winchester and Little Rock will see a major increase of traffic and parking issues considering the movie theater with only has a 17 space parking lot
I like the jitney idea! Simple!
I wish we could park in a driveway – we have a 100 + yr. old house and I have no idea what did fit in it. Maybe a golf cart – god forbid. Play the game in summer – if you get a spot kept it.
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