Glitch causes temporary issue for Gloucester beach parking passes
GLOUCESTER -- The new reservation system for the Gloucester Public Beaches is leaving some beachgoers confused and frustrated. A glitch in the system on Thursday caused them to oversell tickets but fortunately, everything was cleared up for Friday.
"They were unavailable this morning and last night but we booked it a few days ago," Kelly Parish told WBZ-TV.
She's from Florida where they don't have to reserve spaces at beaches. And thought it was a strange system.
"I don't like it. I don't like it. I feel like it's weird for such a small area," she explained.
Last year it was first-come, first-serve but this year the city changed to an online reservation system. Usually, on a hot day like Friday, the parking lot would be full already. But because of the online reservation system, people can show up whenever they want for their spot, leaving seemingly empty spots. And the city doesn't resell spots after people leave.
"I wouldn't mind it if someone who came up later in the day, maybe doesn't have anything to do and doesn't mind a later beach day, if they sold it. If I'm leaving someone else might as well enjoy the beach," regular Gloucester beach goer, Maddi Dube said.
But overall, Maddi and her mother Jodie like the new system. They said it made for an easy day, where they could sleep in before going to the beach.
"Before if you didn't get here by 7:00 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. you weren't getting in," Maddi said. Once, in a previous year, they drove an hour to get to the beach and were the last car let in, at 6:45 a.m..
"Now at least if you get a spot you're guaranteed to get in here," Maddi's mom, Julie said.
But it has proven to be an issue for not only people who show up without a reservation and see an empty lot that's technically sold out, but also for the concession stand operators.
"This year parking has been difficult because they switched it which I understand is best for the neighbors, the towns, and everyone else without the lines," concession stand operator, Robert Lemos told WBZ-TC.
The new system has made it harder for business because it limits how many people from out-of-town can come to the beach in a day. He said during the 4th of July, he only made 25% of what he normally does.
"If this parking lot was filled by 5 minutes to 9:00 a.m. you would come to the beach and have your cooler, but by noon you've already gone through your stuff, you're up coming to get something," he explained.
We tried to get someone from the Gloucester Public Works Department to explain the confusion around the reservation system, but no one was available to speak.
For both Robert and beach goers, they told us what would clear up the confusion is just some consistency and communication.