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“Nightlife plus” is the new marketing mantra of Dewey Beach businesses for the 2008 summer season. A marketing task force has developed new activities to attract visitors while also recommending ways to improve the parking situation for visitors.
“We want people to know Dewey is about nightlife and more,” Starboard owner Steve Montgomery told the town council April 12. “There’s so much you can do in Dewey that you can’t do in other towns. Movies and bonfires on the beach, skim boarding and dogs.” A member of the Dewey Beach marketing task force, created under the umbrella of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery said the group’s plan is to retain current visitors and attract new ones during off-peak weekdays. But the plans will require solving parking problems, he said.
“The task force came up with all the things it could think of to market Dewey as nightlife plus,” said Carol Everhart, president and chief executive officer of the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce. Everhart said Monday night movies and Wednesday night bonfires on the beach are planned to begin in mid-June. “This is positive stuff and it was done quickly,” said Commissioner Claire Walsh. “Hats off to the business community and the chamber.”
Dewey has a bad reputation about parking, Montgomery said, and that’s a problem.
Parking permits and ticket fees generate significant revenue for the town, but parking enforcement can include towing illegally parked vehicles at a charge to the owners of approximately $150.
Business owners say the need for revenue and safety concerns must be balanced with the need to attract visitors to town.
“Rather than tow 333 cars all the way out to Plantation Road as we did in 2007, we need to find ways to help visitors so they do not get towed while at the same time still find ways to still collect fines and have cars not blocking safety lanes,” said Montgomery.
The task force recommended a booting system and limiting towing for vehicles that blocked such things as fire hydrants.
The town could make more than $15,000 for itself, and the boots would eliminate some of the frustration of visitors who now have to leave town to find and claim their vehicles.
“People, common-sense-wise, would rather be able to walk down the street and pay $50 to get their car back,” Montgomery added.
To try out an idea about how to designate illegal parking areas, Montgomery, at his own expense, asked a landscaper to install posts and ropes with a nautical look on Swedes Street. The cost to the town to install similar posting was estimated at $300 to $500 per corner. The task force recommended placing similar landscaping on Bayard Avenue. Montgomery said that he and businesses Harvey Hanna and Highway 1 would be willing to donate additional money to accomplish the project.
The task force also suggested the town paint lines showing where driveways are located and clearly defining handicapped parking spaces at the end of each block. It recommended that parking permits be more available and easier to purchase. It also suggested incentives for people to visit Dewey during the week that could include not requiring parking permits on two or three midweek days. The task force also asked that permits not be required after 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday or, minimally, that they not be required after midnight.
Contact Georgia Leonhart at g.l.leonhart@comcast.net
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