Rehoboth Beach officials unveil new parking changes for summer season

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – It may seem calm and quiet now, but when the warm weather comes out so do the headaches when you’re trying to find parking downtown.

“It gets extremely difficult I think to find parking,” said Rehoboth Beach resident Donald Bansleben.

That’s why city commissioners recently agreed to increase the cost of meters mainly located in the commercial district from $2 to $3 an hour to motivate people to park further out in the city, and allow for more free flowing traffic.

“There will be less cars, less congestion, less potential safety issues for pedestrians,” said commissioner Lisa Schlosser.

Officials say trying to find parking in downtown Rehoboth can almost be impossible, and it’s a safety hazard. That’s why they’re hoping these parking changes will make a difference.

“This is a start of a journey where we’re going to keep looking, we’re going to assess how well these changes improve traffic management and the ability to find parking over the next year,” said Schlosser.

Officials will also change the number of available parking spaces for the city’s post office from seven spaces to five to allow for more room.

“I don’t like that part. Because it’s a very busy post office and I think just eliminating two isn’t going to generate that much money,” said another Rehoboth Beach resident Donald Vanderslice.

But not everybody’s sold that these changes will help.

“I’m a little bit hesitant about that if it’s really going to help a lot personally,” said Bansleben.

And while these are minor changes. Officials say these new regulations will get them one step closer to solving the ongoing issue.