Rehoboth considering parking changes for Sea Witch week

Rehoboth Beach officials may not be considering any changes to the pay-to-park program for the 2025 season, but it appears that may not be the case for the week of the Sea Witch Festival.

Although no decisions have been finalized, the city is considering changes that would prevent vehicles from parking on Rehoboth Avenue all week. This would be in an effort to help downtown businesses the week before the parade,

Rehoboth’s pay-to-park season ends Sept. 15. Afterward, with the exception of an exceptionally nice day, many of the city’s commercial parking spots are empty during a typical week.

The problem is, for years now, Sea Witch paradegoers who want a front-row seat have been filling Rehoboth Avenue parking spots nearly a week before the parade.

During a commissioner workshop March 10, Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce President Carol Everhart said the issue has to be fixed in order for the parade to continue. Successful events like this can fail because they get too big, she said.

Above the Dunes owner Mike Venzanzi said the whole week of Sea Witch is busy, and getting cars off Rehoboth Avenue would help businesses tremendously. Sea Witch gets a lot of businesses through the winter, he said.

Everhart said the results of a chamber survey conducted during a meeting of the chamber’s downtown task force showed a majority of respondents were favor of turning on meters the week of the parade and also enforcing no overnight parking on Rehoboth Avenue.

Mayor Stan Mills said he didn’t think meters would be necessary if there’s no overnight parking.

Assistant City Manager Evan Miller said the police had raised concerns about actually enforcing a no-parking policy the entire week.

For purposes of safety and best use of space, Commissioner Mark Saunders threw out the idea of eliminating parking on Rehoboth Avenue the day of the parade. It’s just wasted space, he said.

Miller estimated Rehoboth Avenue has 800 parking spaces.

Venzanzi said eliminating parking on Rehoboth Avenue may actually decrease the number of cars in the city the day of the parade because the people who have dropped off a car are now coming back to the parade in another car.

City Manager Taylour Tedder said a move to no parking on Rehoboth Avenue would represent a paradigm shift in the operation of the parade. Do commissioners want people tailgating? he asked.

In respect to public safety, there are a lot of unknowns about what is in vehicles, said Tedder. There's a lot of security now, but this issue has been brought up in the past, he said.

Commissioner Edward Chrzanowski said he’s in favor of no overnight parking Thursday only, but is against turning the meters on because it would be too much of a hassle for city staff.

This issue will be brought back for commissioners to discuss further.