Parking in Seaside Heights – more than meets the eye

Seaside Heights, NJ -   Until this year, Seaside Heights, NJ used standard parking meters to charge vacationers for parking.  This year, those old meters were removed and replaced with an electronic ticketing system that has created many woes for local travelers.

On a recent visit to Seaside about a month ago, it was a stormy and rainy day.  I had parked in spot 174.  I put a few hours on the spot and placed the ticket on my dashboard.   A short while later, I ran back outside in the pouring rain and while getting soaked while the machine was rejecting my now wet dollar bills, I inadvertantly punched in 147.     I figured, I paid $5, and there was no number or meter reader in sight to correct the problem, so I placed this new ticket on my dashboard to show that I did infact pay for time to park, and since spot 147 was taken, I could not move to that spot.

I was shocked to find that despite having 2 hours left of paid parking on my dashboard, I was ticketed.  When I confronted the meter reader, he said “Too bad, you should have put the right number.. hahah you paid for somebody else to park!” and he walked away giggling at me. 

I asked him if he looked on the dashboard, and he replied “It’s not my job or responsibility to look on your dashboard.  If you don’t like it, fight the ticket”.   So I walked away and left seaside with a bitter taste in my mouth for the first time ever.

When I called the local court, they were dumbfounded when I said wish to plead not guilty for a parking ticket “You want to do what?” the woman on the phone said.    I eventually called the prosecutor’s office to explain that this whole misunderstanding can be taken care of if I could just come down and show the receipts that I paid, but was told that I must spend a day in court and they are not responsible for mistakes in the system.

I eventually paid the $45 ticket, reluctantly because being tied up all morning in a Seaside Heights courtroom arguing with a group of peope whose best interests it is to have me pay this fine would cost me much more than the $45 fee because of lost hours at the office.

Yesterday, I went back to Seaside for the first time and noticed that I was not the only person who had these issues and the problems with these new electronic system go beyond my issue.  Today, there were newly placed flourescent orange labels stating “Put Receipt on Dash”.   Hopefully they told their wisecracking meter maids the new policy so before they run their mouth to tourists spending money in their town, they understand the problems with the new system.

Unfortunately, my $45 is long gone, but I am writing this in hopes that before you visit Seaside, you make sure that regardless of what happens in your parking situation, you keep your ticket stubs as they are your only evidence to help you should you also be wrongfully ticketed in Seaside Heights.

But be very careful, as even with these newly placed labels, they are still misleading.  While the label says “Put receipt on dash”,  the same meter also says “Keep receipt with you”.  It only prints one label.  Which is correct?  Too bad, that is a decision for the meter readers and the courts to decide.