OCEAN CITY – Members of a new committee will soon begin exploring a fee-in-lieu-of-parking concept in Ocean City.
On Monday, Mayor Rick Meehan presented the council with his recommended list of members to serve on a new parking committee. He said the group will begin exploring fee-in-lieu-of-parking (FILOP) options presented by the Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC).
“A couple weeks ago, the OCDC came to us with a presentation on parking in downtown Ocean City and asked us to consider further discussing options such as the concept of fee-in-lieu parking,” he said. “It’s been long-discussed, parking in downtown Ocean City, and they asked if we would form a task force to meet and discuss that.”
Meeting with Joe Wilson, a member of OCDC’s own parking committee, Meehan said he had developed a list of potential committee members, representing various interests in the downtown area.
Recommended members include OCDC President Kevin Gibbs, Executive Director Zach Bankert and Program Manager David Noonan, OCDC Parking Committee members Dennis Dare and Joe Wilson, Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association representative Garvey Heiderman, Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce representative Sal Fasano, downtown hotelier G. Hale Harrison, downtown restaurateur Greg Shockley, downtown retailer Todd Ferrante, property manager Igor Conev, developer Palmer Gillis and downtown residents Bob Rothermel, Scott Chismar and Newt Weaver.
Town representatives include Meehan, City Manager Terry McGean, City Engineer Paul Mauser, Public Works Director Hal Adkins, Planning and Community Development Director Bill Neville, and Councilmen Frank Knight and Will Savage.
“I’d like to present those to the Mayor and City Council for their approval,” Meehan said, “so this committee can get organized and begin to meet.”
Councilman Peter Buas, however, questioned if another council member was needed.
“Do you think we would benefit from three council members on this committee?” he asked.
Meehan said it was the council’s decision.
“That is up to the Mayor and Council,” he replied. “What I had suggested was two members, so that’s what I put on there.”
Buas said he wanted to serve on the new parking committee. With no further discussion, the council voted 6-0, with Councilman John Gehrig absent, to approve the recommended committee members, adding Buas to the list.
Earlier this year, OCDC representatives came before the council to discuss the proposed implementation of a FILOP program. Officials say the goal of the program is to address parking problems downtown and throughout the resort.
“We’re here to introduce and start a discussion on the idea of implementing a fee-in-lieu-of-parking program here in Ocean City,” Wilson said in February. “I want to emphasize we are not here to provide all the answers. We have begun exploration of the topic, and OCDC board has provided unanimous support for the town to form a parking committee to explore it further.”
Simply put, a FILOP program would allow developers an alternative for meeting the town’s minimum parking requirements. The concept allows property owners to pay a fee to the town instead of providing some or all of the necessary off-street parking required by code. The town then uses those fees to pay for public parking.
OCDC officials even went so far as to hire a consultant to explore the FILOP concept. The study, presented to the council in February, proposes several options for implementing and managing the program.
The council at that time ultimately voted to form a parking committee to explore a FILOP program and to recruit committee members.
