Permit parking will have a final showdown in Holmes Beach.
During their Feb. 9 meeting, commissioners discussed the vetoed ordinance and agreed to put the matter to a final vote Feb. 23.
The issue has split the commission. An ordinance mandating permit-parking for parts of Holmes Beach was approved in a 3-2 vote Jan. 26, then vetoed by Mayor Bob Johnson Jan. 29.
Commissioners Marvin Grossman, Jean Peelen and Carol Soustek voted for the measure. Commissioner Pat Morton and Chair Judy Titsworth voted against it.
Commissioners have one more chance to adopt permit parking for the phase 1 area — the west side of Gulf Drive from Manatee Avenue to 52nd Street, on the east side of Gulf Drive from Manatee Avenue to 43rd Street, from 74th Street to 81st Street west of Palm Drive and all of Neptune and Aqua lanes.
To override the veto and pass, the measure requires a supermajority vote — at least 4-1.
City attorney Patricia Petruff encouraged commissioners to vote on permit parking during the Feb. 9 meeting, but Peelen said she’d rather see the issue put on a meeting agenda before a vote.
“I think it’s kind of settled,” Grossman said. “No one’s going to change their mind.”
Peelen said she thought the mayor should use his veto power in severe circumstances, and she doesn’t consider permit parking such a circumstance.
“It’s such a joy … to have a coherent commission and mayor who care about this city. This is the first time we’ve had a deep and emotional split. It’s painful for all of us.”
Anna Maria Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization president Lindsay Sauls presented a letter against permit parking Feb. 9 signed by parents and staff.
Sauls said she and her family moved to the mainland in August to seek more affordable housing, but her children continue to attend AME through the Manatee County School District School Choice program.
“Over 50 percent of students at the school live off-island,” Sauls said, adding that with the school parking lots taken up by staff, parents would have nowhere to park if permit-only parking was instituted.
“The school brings families to the island,” she said. “That’s why we moved here.”
The letter said the concern is that if parents can’t park nearby or they receive parking tickets while attending events, they may choose to take their children out of the school, potentially adversely affecting the staffing budget and the long-term validity of the small elementary school.
“We don’t want to lose our school, we don’t want to lose our teachers,” she said. “We really hope that this can be a good thing between us.”
Commissioners will next consider the matter at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
