Summer parking accommodations have been a hot issue in Bethany Beach for decades, with visitors and locals alike circling the blocks in an effort to get to the beach and visit downtown retailers. On Friday, May 23, the Bethany Beach Traffic and Parking Committee met to discuss at least one bit of possible relief from the problem.
“Parking is a very passionate topic for everybody in town,” stated committee member Dick Heidenberger, a downtown business owner who knows all too well the concerns of his patrons and other employers.
For years, the Addy Sea Bed and Breakfast Inn has been providing clients with an elegant stay at the beach, offering gorgeous views and memorable experiences. But, Maggie Verts, manager of four years, and owner Leroy Trice Gravatte III want to address their parking situation, which often sees limited space, due to a number of metered parking spots adjacent to its property.
Verts and Gravatte came to the May 23 committee meeting with a proposal to purchase the five parking spots at the property’s northeast side, allowing for appropriate accommodations for guests.
“By the time we give our employees a pass to park,” Gravatte noted, “there’s virtually no space for our guests.”
Verts even offered to purchase the spots for more than what the meters would accumulate, daily, based on her estimates.
“On average, on the weekends,” she said, “the most that they would generate on their own is $7.50 a day, during the sunning hours, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.”
Although meter pay starts at 8 a.m., those hours are the time when they are primarily utilized by beachgoers, she stated. Verts proposed purchasing the five meters for $11 per day for each, guaranteeing increased revenue for the town.
The majority of the town’s parking revenue comes from the blue meters within the business district on Garfield Parkway, which have a two-hour limit on the meter, but can be replenished as time ticks away. The remaining gray meters, located less frequently and in the residential district, have an eight-hour limit. The rate runs at $1.25 per hour in increments of 12 minutes per quarter.
Bethany homeowners are granted access to parking passes that can displayed in their cars, with the option to purchase two more at higher prices, as well, for parking access in permit spaces located through the residential district.
The Addy Sea is one of the few home-based businesses that currently operates in a residential district in the town. Vacant permit spots are typically sought out by Bethany homeowners and renters, as well as the inn’s employees and guests, leaving meter spaces available only on a first-come, first-served-basis.
“The passes work, to an extent,” said Verts, “but we are still not guaranteeing our guests [parking]. We have eight spots on our lawn, and we have 13 rooms, so five spots [more] need to be guaranteed, in our estimates, for guests. If we give them a daily pass, it’s a 50/50 chance the spots will still be there if they go out and come back between those hours.”
The proposal to purchase spots had been presented to the town manager, Cliff Graviet, in a previous attempt to solve the problem, but it was rejected by him, to avoid setting a precedent throughout town.
“We don’t want other businesses in town to come to us asking to purchase parking spaces,” agreed Traffic and Parking Committee Chairwoman Jean Wode on May 23.
The committee and representatives were able to formulate wording, however, that would benefit the town and the Addy Sea business without provoking more requests from Bethany businesses, since it would restrict the option to home-based businesses in the R-1 zone that have customer traffic.
Code Enforcement Officials Bill Dowdell and BBPD Capt. Ralph Mitchell gave their input, as well, suggesting that peak parking hours in the season, including the weekends, are added to the proposal. The committee drew up the following proposition to be recommended to Graviet and the town council, pending official approval:
All established licensed home-based businesses in the R-1 district that conduct business with customer traffic may request approval to purchase parking spots for the season, on weekends starting May 15, every day from July 1 to Sept. 8, and the weekends leading up to Sept. 15.
Verts also sought out an unofficial pardon to allow for the proposed offer to go into effect for the time being at the Addy Sea.
The committee also discussed on May 23 the utilization of expanded permit parking spaces around town.
“A lot of times,” said committee member Lonny Moore, “you might have a residential parking space that’s not hashed off, and you can fit two or three cars there, but people are parking in the middle, and taking it all up.”
He advised that there are some spots where 18- to 20-foot spaces could be marked off to encourage better parking.
“All you need, in some cases, is a little room in front and in the back,” he stated. “We may have a couple more hash marks around town, but is it going to give us more parking? The answer is, ‘Yes.’”
Moore estimated that there are roughly 10 such parking spaces around town that could benefit from a few hours of manpower to more clearly designate a single parking space.
“The town would have to pay to go out there and mark these spots,” he said, “but by increasing our parking, it’s something we can easily make back.”
One thing he said he wanted to avoid, however, was increasing the number of signs in the town. Mitchell recommended referring back to the town code to ensure that the town is not restricted by any lateral parking-space length that might be listed in the code. The committee agreed to study the matter further.