Wildwood Crest Doubles Parking Meter Rates for 2027
Visitors heading to Wildwood Crest next summer will be paying more to park, as the borough has officially approved doubling its hourly parking meter rates for the 2027 season.
During its November 3 meeting, the Wildwood Crest Board of Commissioners adopted Ordinance No. 1500, increasing the hourly parking rate from $1.50 to $3.00, marking the first increase in 17 years.
That’s right. We have been pretty lucky with having the same price of parking since 2009.
Wildwood Crest Doubles Parking Meter Rates for 2027
The new rate represents a 100% increase and will apply to every existing metered parking space throughout the borough.
For visitors, that means an eight-hour beach day will now cost $24 in parking, compared to the previous $12. Those staying for ten hours could pay $30.
According to the ordinance, paid parking will be enforced annually from May 15 through September 30, between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Following the ordinance’s adoption, the Wildwood Video Archive reached out to borough officials seeking clarification on how the changes would affect residents and visitors.
One of the biggest questions was whether the borough planned to expand paid parking into areas that are currently free.
Officials confirmed that no additional parking spaces will become metered as part of this ordinance.
Instead, the increase will apply exclusively to existing paid parking spaces.
When asked whether different areas of Wildwood Crest would have different rates, the borough confirmed that all metered spaces would increase from $1.50 to $3.00 per hour.
The borough also explained that the hourly parking rate had remained unchanged since 2009.
The ordinance also consolidates the borough’s multiple paid parking zones into a single paid parking zone, allowing the borough to regulate paid parking through digital payment systems such as ParkMobile.
Wildwood Crest Sand Sculpting Festival Returns This Week
What This Means for Summer 2027
The increase comes as visitors continue to face rising costs associated with vacationing at the Jersey Shore.
While the borough has not increased its hourly parking rate since 2009, doubling the cost in a single season will be noticeable for families spending extended periods at the beach.
For example, a visitor parking eight hours a day over a seven-day vacation would spend $168 on metered parking, compared to $84 under the previous rate.
This could mean, that if your street is a ‘free spot’ street, you might see more visitor parking as that’s what we saw on Delaware Ave in North Wildwood for the past two summers.