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Va. Beach City Council to vote on decreasing cost of employee residential parking permits

Posted at 11:15 PM, Apr 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-18 23:15:41-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - City Council could make it a little easier on some Oceanfront employees' wallets.

Council members are set to vote on changing an ordinance for employee business passes for the Residential Permit Parking Program (RPPP) from $20 a month to $10 a month.

The RPPP allows employees to park on residential streets from 8 PM to 6 AM. In 2015, it only cost employees $25 a year for a permit.

"That's a 940 percent increase for what the employee has to pay and we appreciate city council taking a re-look at that," says Tim Oswald, manager of Rudee's on the Inlet Restaurant & Cabana Bar.

Oswald says the decrease in the monthly fee not only keeps them competitive in hiring when other jobs in the city can offer free parking, but with only a small parking lot in the marina, the RPPP is the only option for employees to park closely and safely.

"If employees are walking away with tips in their pocket, walking down a long road by themselves, there are safety concerns for their vehicle as well as their person."

However, some people feel the residential parking in itself has become unsafe.

Barbara Clark, president of the Resort Beach Civic League, sent city council a letter asking them if they change the monthly fee to include several other changes.

Those include limiting the number of permits the city gives out to employees and eliminating the overnight employee parking in neighborhoods completely by 2018.

"When they come back to the neighborhoods late night, early morning, it can disturb the peace," says Barbara Clark. "We do have all these large projects coming, we're very concerned that those are going to bring in more visitors, more employee parking needs, so we're asking for relief."

Clark says she understands the city would need to have other options for employees, which she's asking them to start looking into.

Oswald says unless the city finds those options, his employees have no choice.

"There's really just no other option unless those other options are in place that have been presented."