Old Orchard Beach tweaks parking meter season

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — The town has trimmed a few weeks off the parking meter season so that it will run through Sept. 30.

For many years, the Old Orchard Beach parking meter season – the time when visitors to the downtown must pay to park - ran from from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.

Last year, the Town Council voted to extend the season so that it began on May 1 and ended on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Town Council has since revisited the topic and on Tuesday voted to change the parking meter season so that it will now begin on May 1 and end Sept. 30.

Town Manager Diana Asanza said with the payment system the town is using to collect parking fees, it is easier to program a static date into the system, rather than using Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which falls on a different date each year.

Asanza also noted that the town made much more money in parking fees from Labor Day to Sept. 30 than it did from Oct. 1 to Indigenous Peoples' Day. Last year, the town made $45,000 in parking fees from Sept. 7 to Sept. 30. It made about $10,000 in parking fees from Oct 1 to Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 11, an amount not substantial to offset expenses, said Asanza.

Metered parking spaces are located along Old Orchard Street, First Street, and other downtown streets as well as municipal parking lots at Milliken Street and Memorial Park, and after business hours at Town Hall. Parking is $3 an hour, and seasonal parking permits will be available at Town Hall.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.