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Ocean City Today
APRIL 8, 2022
Some events finding parking spaces scarce Continued from Page 1 ventions, meetings, expositions, shows and more to 214,000 square feet. Tom Perlozzo, the city’s director of tourism and business development, said his staff is working to attract more events and has hundreds of solid leads, which could in turn heighten the need for a better parking plan. While Noccolino said this week that he could easily count on two hands how many complaints he has heard about parking at the 40th Street facility since the beginning of 2022, his comments during last week’s meeting indicate that an issue could be on the horizon. “The only two times we had a problem so far this year — and I say this year not our fiscal year, since Jan. 1 — has been the boat show and the third cheerleading event,” Noccolino said. “Between both of those shows, I got a total of —a combination of emails, voicemails or phone calls — seven … If you want to put a percentage on it, it’s probably .000007.” Still, Noccolino said he and his staff take all feedback seriously. And as a result, proactive steps have been taken to remedy the situation. Noccolino said that he has spoken with two companies that specialize in parking control, and plans to solicit bids in the coming weeks. “There’s a company that comes out with a couple of golf carts and probably eight to 10 employees … they’re all on two-way radios or cell phones, and they go around the parking lot to see where they may have available parking spaces,” he explained. “If there are none, they will direct people to our south parking lot.” The company may be hired for a test run for the upcoming Maryland Municipal League conference, but will likely only be needed for the large events referenced during the budget meeting. He recognized as well that the center’s increasingly busy schedule could also spark the need for a more concerted and permanent parking solu-
tion. Councilman John Gehrig asked during last week’s meeting how big of a problem parking is now, and pointed out that it was always advised in the past that anyone who had a problem could take public transportation. He also said that while the complaints that came to Noccolino and his staff were minimal, the event promoters could have fielded more. During the meeting, Noccolino said that a future solution for parking issues, as events grow and more people come to the center, would be construction of a deck over the existing lot. “I see an opportunity that something could be had but not a parking garage, a parking garage won’t do anything for us,” he said during the meeting. “A parking deck will do something for us. A parking deck with stadium lighting will do something for us.” He explained that stadium lighting would create a dual use for the deck, which would be ideal. There was also some discussion over whether the city could charge for parking in the lot. While Noccolino remained mum on the subject after the meeting, he said during it that he does not believe that he would see
MALLORY PANUSKA/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Resort officials are discussing potential future solutions for parking at the Ocean City convention center as the 40th Street facility grows in space and popularity.
pushback if parking in the 300-space south lot came with a fee. Mayor Rick Meehan said during the meeting that officials could look into it monetizing parking, but advised that they may need to re-work the lots and create stacking lanes if they decide to go that route. He also advised against talking too negatively against the parking situation. “Let’s not create our own bad publicity,” Meehan said. “It’s great to talk
about in here but let’s not go telling everybody else because some people don’t have a problem and all of the sudden you tell them there is a problem then they all think there is one. So let’s make sure that we operate smartly.” Perlozzo added that a simple solution would be adding vehicle trackers that would tell drivers how many spaces are available in the lots when they arrive, which he and his staff are looking into.
County OKs watershed restoration By Jack Chavez Staff Writer (April 8, 2022) The Worcester County Commissioners approved $96,000 in funding during their Tuesday meeting for a coastal bays watershed restoration project that will install a “living shoreline” in the Greys Creek Nature Park. “A living shoreline basically stabilizes an eroding shoreline to prevent the erosion of sediment into a waterway,” Steve Farr, watershed coordinator for Maryland Coastal Bays Program, said Wednesady. “Generally, as an alternative to putting rock or other riprap there, instead gener-
ally it features native plants and trees to prevent it from eroding from wave action on the waterway.” According to documents for the project, it will restore approximately 300 linear feet of tidal shoreline, 9,000 square feet of tidal wetlands and install approximately 15,000 feet of riparian buffer. Originally, the project was estimated to cost around $123,000. The project is an extension of an existing living shoreline project that was completed in 2015. The county is working with the coastal bays program on the project. “Our role is we have been working
with the county for a number of years on various projects,” Farr said. “We were involved in helping with the initial living shoreline installation. We were involved working with (Maryland Department of Natural Resources) to secure funding for the completion of (that) installation.” According to a memo from Worcester County Environmental Programs Director Bob Mitchell, funds have been approved by the state for the project. The current project is funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The project is expected to take roughly one year to complete.
