MUSKEGON, Mich. — The second season of paid parking at Muskegon beaches pulled in $1,042,241 in revenue, double what was collected in 2020.
The figure released Friday by Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson includes more than $800,000 in receipts from parking fees with the remainder associated with parking tickets.
"There will be a significant amount of money to reinvest back into the parks system," said Peterson.
In 2020 the city collected around $500,000, which was well beyond what the city projected for year one of paid parking.
"It was very busy in May and June, it peaked in July and only slowed down a little in August," said Peterson. "There were weekends in September that brought in $30,000."
Some of the revenue collected in 2020 is paying to replace old playground equipment at two non-beach parks in the city. The equipment has been ordered and should be instilled next spring.
Paid parking at the beach is enforced seven days a week at Pere Marquette Park from May 15 to Sept.15.
City of Muskegon residents can receive one free pass per household.
Non-residents pay $20 for a season pass or $7 daily Monday-Thursday and $10 Friday-Sunday.
"There were plenty of days where the parking was full. I think there's still opportunity down there to add some more parking on the south side of the concession stand," said Peterson. "If we get more parking down there in that area we could see revenue go up quite a bit."
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