Seaside Heights Eyeing Public Parking Garage for Midpoint in Town

The municipal parking lot in Seaside Heights on Grant Avenue, which will be part of a forthcoming parking study, May 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

With homes getting larger, the Boulevard poised for redevelopment with mixed-use properties and old dirt-and-gravel private parking lots being replaced with new homes and condominiums, it is no secret that parking in Seaside Heights is going to get tougher over the coming years as potentially hundreds of projects come to fruition.

Throughout the summer, officials said this week, the borough council will begin considering designs for a public parking garage which would be built in the middle of town, close to the board and attractions, as well as the Boulevard business district.

“We’re looking to do this on the [parking lot] property on Grant Avenue that the borough already owns,” said Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz. “The council needs to start getting an idea of what we want the garage to really look like. We’ve seen concepts that look like big boxes, but we’ve talked about doing it certain other ways over the last couple of years.”

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Councilman Harry Smith said he conducted an informal audit of private parking lots that have, or are expected, to close over the next couple of seasons. Those would account for between 250 to 300 lost spaces alone, not counting the on-street parking that will be lost to new development.

The municipal parking lot in Seaside Heights on Grant Avenue, which will be part of a forthcoming parking study, May 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Mayor Anthony Vaz said the project is still “in its infancy” and he and council members will be looking at the project broadly before narrowing down designs and how such a facility would operate. He set a deadline for September for his colleagues to bring their ideas to the table.

“We would like to come up with some visions on a parking garage,” he said. “How would it be visible? Would there be any other amenities there?”

Christopher Vaz, the administrator, said that ideally, the borough would look to shy away from the traditional gray block-style garages that are more likely to be seen at shopping malls and office buildings.

“When we visit Florida, we see garages in some of the towns that barely even look like garages,” he said. “Down there, they’ve got flowers hangings from the sides, it’s airy, there is sunlight coming in, and it’s constructed in a way that there’s a coastal vibe to it. It doesn’t have to look like your normal public or corporate garage.”

The municipal parking lot in Seaside Heights on Grant Avenue, which will be part of a forthcoming parking study, May 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

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The municipal parking lot in Seaside Heights on Grant Avenue, which will be part of a forthcoming parking study, May 2023. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Last year, the borough issued a bid solicitation for a parking consultant to bring ideas to the table about what type of structure would work best in Seaside Heights, how it would be designed and to present varying ideas about its operation. A bidder was selected, but the work was not ordered. Vaz said that now that the issue is on the council’s agenda, he will verify that the 2023 bid specifications are still valid and begin working with the company.

“I’m also going to start reaching out to companies that build these and get ideas about how many spaces we can fit there,” he said.

Vaz said that while nothing is set in stone, the borough may look to complete the project as a public-private partnership, in which the borough would team up with a private sector firm to build and operate the facility on some type of a long-term lease scenario.

“If we can do this, make some concrete decisions, we might be able to start this as a public-private partnership in 2025,” said Vaz. ” We have bonding capacity to do this ourselves, but I don’t think we should spend all of our capital on one project.”

Anthony Vaz, the mayor, said he and council members have heard concerns brought by both residents and visitors regarding parking for guests, vacationers and daily visitors as lots are closed and new properties take the place of motels and small private homes which offered on-street and off-street parking.

“At this point, we believe we may have to look at a slow-down, lacking a better word, in order to look at parking,” the mayor said. “We need to come up with some great ideas between now and September, and we have to get ahead of the game.”