OCEAN CITY, Md. -- During services, churchgoers can park for free in spots that would typically require someone to pay. That system has created problems, though, so town parking staff are searching for answers.
According to Ocean City's Parking Division, the current system is unformalized and has caused issues between the Parking Division and congregation members.
Problems:
- Times and geographic boundaries of this arrangement have not been documented
- Has left people who enforce parking unsure of when they can and cannot issue tickets.
On Tuesday, Parking Division heads attended a work session with the mayor and city council and presented them with four solutions.
Potential Solutions:
- Option 1: Leave the agreement unformalized
- Option 2: Allow all houses of worship to have free parking for their services and coordinate with staff to determine when and where this free parking would be permitted.
- Option 3: Allow staff(parking division) to designate specific "free" lots and the associated times.
- Option 4: Discontinue the policy of allowing free parking to houses of worship(recommended by parking division staff).
According to the parking division, the following churches would be impacted by any decision made by the town council:
- Son' Spot Ministries Inc.
- St. Mary Star of the Sea Church
- Ocean City Baptist Church
- St. Paul's by-the-sea Episcopal Church
- Atlantic United Methodist Church
- St. Luke Catholic Church
- Church of the Holy Spirit Episcopal
We spoke with Donna Santoni, parish secretary at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church. She told us the church's downtown location only has two parking spots, both of which are for church staff.
Congregation members utilize nearby municipal lots or street parking, which they don't have to pay for. It's a longtime practice, and Santoni said it is crucial for the church's sense of community.
"I can't imagine someone's phone starting to beep because mass ran long and their time is up and they have to run out or they can't stay and socialize for five minutes because time ran out on their parking meter," said Santoni.
As for the previously mentioned options, Santoni hopes "option 4" doesn't gain much traction past Tuesday's work session.
"We've always had a good working relationship and I really think they will find a solution to help us keep doing as we're doing," said Santoni.
However, she believes "option 2" would benefit everybody.
"To formalize it makes it easier because then people aren't anxious about 'am I okay, can I park there,'" said Santoni. "If we tell people 'this is where you have to park, and you can park for free,' they'll park there, and they'll know if I don't go there, I am going to have to pay to park."
After a back-and-forth discussion on Tuesday, council members could not agree on the best solution. For what it's worth, they did not seem eager to abolish free parking.
The topic has been tabled for an upcoming meeting.
