“I did not run for mayor to see this city become exclusionary,” Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson said Dec. 10, during a commission work session on parking.
City attorney Patricia Petruff presented commissioners with a draft parking ordinance that would limit street parking to motorists with permits 9 a.m.-5 p.m. every day on the streets closest to the beach.
The ordinance, drafted at the commission’s request and based on a plan submitted by a congestion committee, allows each vehicle registered to an address in the phase 1 test area to obtain a parking permit. It also allows up to three visitor permits per home. Day passes would be available for residents who host gatherings.
The initial area encompasses all of the streets between Manatee Avenue and 52nd Street on both sides of Gulf Drive. Palm Avenue and all of Aqua Lane also would be included.
Petruff said she saw issues with the ordinance in its current form. She said she removed the suggested fees for permits. “Anyone who’s entitled to one is a taxpayer,” she said.
But the proposed ordinance isn’t the only option on the table.
Police Chief Bill Tokajer, at the request of Johnson, presented commissioners with an alternative to permits. His plan would limit costs by allowing parking in the area on only one side of the street. If adopted and if it worked to the commission’s satisfaction, Tokajer said the plan could be implemented citywide.
Commissioners were split.
Chair Judy Titsworth and Commissioner Pat Morton supported Johnson and advocated Tokajer’s plan.
Commissioners Marvin Grossman, Carol Soustek and Jean Peelen, who phoned into the meeting, favored the congestion committee’s plan and Petruff’s draft ordinance.
Johnson argued against the ordinance, saying it would cost an estimated $15,000 to implement, while burdening staff. Tokajer’s plan would cost about $4,800 to implement, take less staff time and be easier to enforce.
He likened the permit plan to turning the area into a gated community, where only certain people are welcome.
“People have been coming to this island to enjoy its non-commercial, causal environment since there were bridges,” Johnson said.
“Permit parking is a solution without a problem,” he said, adding that the congestion committee’s plan is not based on facts, where the city staff plan is based on a parking study.
The parking study, conducted from March through summer, revealed 20-40 percent of the right-of-way parking and designated beach parking spaces in the proposed test area are used on holidays and weekends. Zero to 15 percent of the spaces are used during workdays, according to the study.
Johnson said eight blocks in the area, those closest to the Manatee Public Beach at 4000 Gulf Drive, have severe congestion issues that need to be addressed.
“We have a right as citizens of the United States to decide what kind of neighborhood we want to live in,” Grossman said. “We have to look to the future.”
Grossman said he feared proposed new housing developments in west Manatee County would bring an additional influx of people to the beaches.
Soustek said not enacting permit parking “places an unreasonable burden on homeowners.” She said she wants visitors to come to the island, but they need to go to a place that has amenities, including parking.
Titsworth said the commission received some push back on the issue from residents in other neighborhoods who do not want permit parking and fear parking will become a problem if permits are required.
Some business owners have concerns that limiting street parking will push motorists to park at shopping centers and other businesses, where their customer parking is limited.
“We don’t want to change,” Peelen responded. “Change is being forced on us.”
“If this commission decides to pursue and adopt resident-only permit parking in the right of way, I will exercise my power as mayor and veto the same,” Johnson said.
If Johnson vetoes the ordinance, it would require a supermajority vote, at least four of five commissioners, to pass the ordinance.
The ordinance moves to first reading and a public hearing when commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.