Ocean City Council Considers Changes To Overnight Parking Ban

OCEAN CITY, NJ — In an effort to help businesses in the downtown that open early in the morning, Ocean City Council is considering a change to relax its restrictions on overnight parking.

City council unanimously approved a proposed ordinance on introduction during Thursday night’s meeting at city hall that reduces the amount of time overnight parking is prohibited by two hours.

If it passes final approval, overnight parking would be prohibited from 2 a.m.-5 a.m., as opposed to the current ordinance, which calls for no overnight parking from 2 a.m.-7 a.m. This would help some businesses that open before 7 a.m. Customers are forced to park elsewhere before 7 a.m., and those businesses may lose clients altogether due to the ban.

Location changes include:

• Asbury Avenue, from 6th Street to 14th Street, instead of 6th to 12th;
• Eighth Street, from West Avenue to the boardwalk. Currently, parking is prohibited in the early morning along the entire length of Eighth Street;
• Parking on Asbury Avenue from North Street to 17th Street will no longer be prohibited; and
• The prohibition on parking of commercial vehicles between 6th and 10th streets from June 1-Oct. 1 of each year would no longer be in effect.

Parking will still be prohibited for the entire length of 9th Street. There is no change to this part of the ordinance, outside the time change.

Councilwoman Karen Bergman asked why the city couldn’t take the extra step to lift the ban on overnight parking altogether, but Mayor Jay Gillian said the prohibition was needed in the event of street cleaning and snow removal. He also said it was likely the street sweeper would continue to come through early in the morning, likely between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.

Councilman Keith Hartzell supported one of the mayor’s points that business owners may park in front of their businesses for days at a time without any ban in place. He said police avoid ticketing violators, but he has had to talk to some people about moving their cars from time to time.

“I’ve seen it happen where the street sweeper has come down the street and had to stop and go around parked cars,” Hartzell said.

In the event of snow, police always advise residents to move their cars off the streets before snowfall begins. This is often so that snow plows that might have to come through don’t damage cars that become covered in snow and are unable to be seen.

City council approved the proposal on first reading with a 7-0 vote. The public hearing and final vote is scheduled for the June 22 meeting.