Sandusky officials approve Cedar Point parking tax

It is interesting that the only natural connection between the peninsula and the mainland occurs in Huron Township. The only connection between the peninsula and the city of Sandusky is the man-made causeway.

Turning off Cleveland Rd/St. Rt. 6 onto the Cedar Point Chausee immediately takes you from Huron Township into the city of Sandusky. The road itself, along with a very small amount of land on either side, is the city of Sandusky. If you look close, you can see this on the map where there is a very thin line of the peach/pink color surrounded by green.

The road itself is private and the peninsula is private property. It is a unique setup, though, where they still enjoy some city benefits such as police and fire, as well as mail delivery. Dave is right, though. Cedar Point does maintain the entire roadway, which is where part of that $8 parking fee goes.

I don't know if they can secede from the city or not, but I think they would end up in Huron Township instead of Perkins Township. I quickly modified the map to show approximate township locations.

------------------
Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com
*** This post was edited by Gemini 4/16/2003 7:20:01 PM ***

I personally like GregLeg's idea of imposing a one-time $8.00 price tag for a season ticket. That would make certain city officials piss their pants and forget who they were for a half hour.

But really, you can't blame Sandusky for trying to impose a parking tax on Cedar Point guests - it's an important source of income for the city. The millions of tourists who visit the Sandusky area over the summer take a toll on the roads, bridges, etc., and trying to return some of the cash to the city doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. Cedar Fair would have only (eventually) raised parking prices anyway, and your money would just be going into their pocket instead of the City's. Besides, all this quibble over a small parking tax is not going to keep me from visiting the park several times this summer. And I have a feeling it won't keep anyone else from visiting, either. I'm not saying I want to pay a tax, of course (the earth may start to rotate around its axis in reverse if I did), but I think that it's not unreasonable that Sandusky wants its fair share of the big fat cash cow.

Additionally, how would you like to live in Sandusky over the summer months? As someone who used to live there, I can say that going anywhere near US 250 in the summer is a big fat mistake. The new hotels and cheap, penny-ante attractions that have popped up recently along the major thoroughfare to Cedar Point haven't made it any better, either.

My theory on why CP is pissed about it is as follows:

They've got their budget set for the year, which is combined with the price expectation of the public. To adjust for this tax, and seeing as how they need to have an even dollar amount at the gate to facilitate quick parking, they either need to raise parking a buck or reduce it enough to stay at $8. Either way, it's not a desirable situation.

And besides, where does it end? Cedar Point accounts for 1/4 of their budget. The park is open less than 1/3 of the year, and does not include the all important and very expensive winter. I used to work for a city... trust me, that's where the biggest road expense is. Summer wear-and-tear is minimal, and every city has a rush hour.

This is not to mention the fact that, as pointed out above, the average CP guest barely spends any time in the city limits. They drive perhaps two or three miles total on city roads. That justifies the park accounting for 1/4 their revenue? I think not.

We could go on, like considering the fact they have their own police force, but you get the idea.

------------------
Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Does anyone have any idea of the economic impact the seasonal employees have on the town? I know of employee's spending thousands of dollars that they earn within the town's food places and stores. Is Meijer's officially part of the Sandusky town/borough? You wouldn't believe how you go in there at night and half the people would literally be employees. I know for a fact two girls on the ride I worked on alone spent 4,000 dollars each there in a summer on crap they didn't even need. Sandusky gets enough money, they are just irreverent obviously in how they manage it.

Jason has a really good point, I would be willing to say that most of the money that cedar point employee's make (besides what they take home and what goes back into the park (the cafeteria)) goes into sandusky. After working 50-60 hours a week, no one has the time or energy to go out of town for anything, On top of that, why would they? Meijers has everything a cedar point employee needs :). That makes for alot of tax money....If anything, the city should raise taxes on Alchohol :) (joke in case anyone didn't pick up on that)........

Meijers is in Perkins township I think, but Louie's is in Sandusky! ;)

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew