Public use of Lewes bank parking lot coming into focus

Finding parking in downtown Lewes may be a little bit easier next summer if city officials can work out a deal with M&T Bank for public use of its parking lot at the corner of Third and Market streets. 

After more than a year of discussions, Mayor Ted Becker said the city and the bank appear to be nearing an agreement for a two-year trial.

In order to have the lot ready for the 2021 parking season, minor work including seal coating, restriping and landscaping would be required. The city would also purchase signage and a parking kiosk. Altogether, city engineer Charlie O’Donnell estimates the project would cost $22,000 to $37,000. Costs would be split among the city, M&T Bank and Hotel Rodney, which has a few dedicated parking spaces and uses the dumpsters in the lot.

The latest plan has 17 parking spaces for M&T Bank, 10 spaces for the city and four spaces for Hotel Rodney. One ADA space for both the city and M&T Bank is also included for a total of 33 spaces in the lot.

The city’s spaces would be metered from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., every day from May 1 to Oct. 14. The bank’s spaces would be available for public use when the bank is closed, which is currently after 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday; after 6 p.m. Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday. Becker said the city would accommodate St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, which uses the lot for services on Sundays as well as the first Saturday in July for its annual art show.

The bank will not accept an agreement longer than two years, Becker said. Assuming a conservative estimate of 50 percent occupancy in the lot, Becker said, the city should recoup its investment within that two years if the bank decides to end the partnership.

Delineating parking elsewhere

The downtown parking committee continued discussing other areas that could be improved to better serve the business district, such as marking parking spaces on West Third Street from Shipcarpenter Street to Queen Anne Avenue and on Park Avenue from West Fourth Street to West Third Street.

O’Donnell determined the streets could accommodate 104 spaces – 62 on Third and 42 on Park. The spaces would remain free, but with marked spaces, cars would be more organized.

Becker said the cluttered parking situation on Third Street is on display anytime the Lewes Historical Society has an event on its campus.

“People park with six to eight feet between them and the car behind them,” he said. “They just keep eliminating spaces by the way they park.”

The city took similar measures on Kings Highway near the Zwaanendael Museum last year. Betsy Reamer, executive director of the Lewes Chamber of Commerce, has an office that overlooks that stretch of the street. She said it’s made a big difference.

Committee member Nancy Staisey said encouraging people to park on Park or Third is a good idea. Not only is it free, but visitors will walk through the historic district on the way to downtown.

Becker said the key to success is signage.

“We need to tell people there is parking down on Third Street,” he said. “These spaces largely go vacant unless there’s an event at the historical society.”

Schley, Daily Market lots

The committee also continued discussions regarding improvements to the free parking lot on Schley Avenue along the Lewes-to-Georgetown Trail and another free lot next to the Daily Market on Savannah Road. The committee determined success at those locations depends on visual appeal, improving awareness of the lots, and changing parking behaviors. The behavioral component could be challenging, said Darica Ward, a committee member who owns stores on Second Street.

“What I hear consistently from customers is that people want to park right in front of stores and restaurants,” she said.

She said the city could consider incentivizing people to park in those lots. She also suggested the city could consider charging a premium to park on Second Street and other popular places.

Matt DiSabatino, a committee member and Lewes restaurateur, said visitor awareness is very important.

“We all know where to park in Lewes,” he said. “But when I go to Easton, I react the same way as people coming here. When I go there, my approach to finding a parking spot is the same as nine out of 10 people that are coming to Lewes.”

Becker said new and improved signage would help, and the city is working with a company now to overhaul the signs throughout Lewes.

Reamer said the lots could be better publicized in the chamber’s visitors guide and on the chamber’s website for visitors who do research before coming to town.