We are writing to comment on the recommendations proposed by the Beach Parking Committee and to comment on the process as we have been observing it through our attendance at the Zoom meetings. We support the recommendations made by the committee’s majority, including the institution of a permit parking system.
We have been part of the Lewes community since 1996 when we started vacationing here on an annual basis, leading to our decision to purchase a home here on Lewes Beach and spend part of each year here. We love the connection to nature that Lewes and Cape Henlopen provide, as well as the down-to-earth atmosphere of the town, and the bucolic, authentic quality of Lewes Beach.
Over the past several years, as farmland and natural space have been developed into residential housing, the popularity of the beach has exponentially increased. This has resulted in problems at Lewes Beach with parking, trash, and a need for services that are usually found at public beaches, such as bathrooms and even lifeguards.
Of these problems, the city council chose to address the parking issue and formed a Beach Parking Committee to study it. Unfortunately, despite the efforts of some of the committee members, the committee never answered the most basic questions: How much parking do we need and how much legal parking do we currently have?
Instead, the committee appeared to assume that there was a need to create as much parking as possible and focused on how to create additional parking on the state-named streets between Market and Maine. This assumption was made even though no one demonstrated that there was a need for any additional parking. Further, no one ever determined how many legal spaces could be created on these streets, given the fact that state law prohibits parking within 30 feet of each stop sign, and each street has a stop sign at both Cedar and Bay avenues.
The committee spent much of its time examining encroachments onto city rights-of-way, including spending $15,000 on a survey to identify these encroachments, though only on one side of Cedar Street and not the other. (In full disclosure, we, along with most homeowners on the beach, own a home that encroaches into the city right-of-way.) As the majority of the committee found, permanently removing these encroachments is not necessary, nor would it be beneficial to the city, or fair to the homeowners.
This parking issue is not a year-round problem. In fact, from our observation, there is available parking throughout the summer, apart from holidays and some weekends. Because of this, and other common-sense factors, the Beach Parking Committee was strongly in favor of instituting a parking permit system, which would provide a limited solution to a limited problem and would have the least negative impact on the natural environment that makes the beach so attractive to its many residents and visitors. The permit system would also acknowledge the fact that Lewes Beach is not Rehoboth Beach - it has far less space for beachgoers, and that space varies tremendously from low to high tide. Anyone visiting Lewes Beach during high tide knows that this is the true limiting factor on enjoyment of the beach, not the lack of parking. This factor will only get more significant with time.
We support this parking permit system and agree with the committee that it can be administered in a way that is equitable, provides appropriate and broad access to the public beach, and protects our natural resources for the enjoyment of all.
The issue of beach usage must be data-driven and holistic. It should consider all the following factors: beach capacity/usage (now and future), environmental impact, reducing carbon emissions, safety, bathroom facilities, trash management and financial burden on the city. The committee had many difficult discussions about these issues. The recommendations that the majority of the committee approved reflect the seriousness and care that the committee brought to these issues. In conclusion, we gratefully and wholeheartedly thank the committee for its hard work, thoughtfulness, and dedication to our civic good. We urge the city council to adopt the recommendations offered by the majority of the committee.
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