ANNA MARIA – City leaders have pledged not to eliminate parking places to accommodate the potential extension of the existing multi-use path along Gulf Drive.
On March 28, the Anna Maria City Commission reached a 4-1 consensus to preserve the existing parallel parking spaces along Gulf Drive if and when the multi-use path is extended from Willow Avenue to Magnolia Avenue. Commissioner Gary McMullen opposed the consensus and supports the elimination of those parking spaces if needed.
Mayor Dan Murphy initiated Thursday’s discussion after learning that a group of potentially impacted business owners recently sent a petition to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to veto the city’s $250,000 funding request for the path extension project. The petition was also sent to Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton), Rep. Will Robinson Jr. (R-Manatee) and Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, accompanied by a letter written by petition initiator and Ginny’s and Jane E’s Café owner Paul Foster.
Foster’s letter expressed concern that 13 parallel parking spaces in the vicinity of Palm, Magnolia and Spring avenues would be eliminated if the multi-use path is extended along the same side of the street as the existing path. Accommodating pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists, strollers and more, the path currently extends from the entrance of the city to Willow Avenue and connects to a multi-use path in Holmes Beach.
In November, the city’s $250,000 funding request was submitted to the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives via Senate local funding initiative request #1512, sponsored by Boyd, and House funding request form, HSE form #2599, sponsored by Robinson.
“The funds will be spent to complete the multi-use path and drainage facility along Gulf Drive,” the Senate funding request form says. The Senate request form says the city plans to contribute $250,000 in city funds to the proposed project that is in the “construction” phase and “shovel-ready,” with an estimated fall 2024 start date and a summer 2025 completion date.
The House funding request form poses the following question: “Is there any documented show of support for the requested project in the community including public hearings, letters of support, major organizational backing or other expressions of support?”
The city’s response is: “Yes. Businesses, visitors and residents have all expressed a desire to see the current multi-use path expanded on Gulf Drive, from Willow Avenue to Magnolia.”
The House request form also poses this question: “Has the need for the funds been documented by a study, completed by an independent third party, for the area to be served?
The city’s response says, “Yes. George F. Young, Inc. has done a study on this as the engineering firm that is working on the project.”
Neither funding request form references parking or eliminating parking.
The commission has previously discussed extending the multi-use path as a desired future project, but to date no formal plans or completed studies have been presented to the city commission or the public.
As part of the still-pending Reimagining Pine Avenue safety improvement project, the commission previously discussed but took no action on the potential elimination of 50 or so parallel parking spaces located along Pine Avenue. Former commissioner Deanie Sebring and current commissioners Kathy Morgan and Gary McMullen have expressed support for eliminating those Pine Avenue parking spaces and that support contributed to the Gulf Drive business owners’ concerns.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION
On March 28, Murphy addressed the petition and the business owners’ concerns previously reported by The Sun. He sought, and later received, commission consensus in support of not eliminating parking spaces to accommodate an expanded multi-use path and to possibly create more parking if possible.
“It has never been the city’s intent, nor is it now our intent, to eliminate parking spaces,” Murphy told the commission. “The author of this petition seems to think there’s no way to run the multi-use path to Magnolia unless you eliminate parking spaces. That simply isn’t true.”
Murphy mentioned three potential options that would preserve those parking spaces: extend the path along the other side of Gulf Drive from Willow to Magnolia, shift Gulf Drive over to create enough space to extend the path along the same of the street or relocate the existing parking spaces to the other side of Gulf Drive.
Foster recently told The Sun that Reimagining Pine Avenue project engineer Gerry Traverso told him in 2021 that due to the limited amount of available space in that area, extending the multi-use path would eliminate those existing Gulf Drive parking spaces. At the time, Traverso was contracted by the city through the George F. Young engineering firm referenced on the House funding request form.
“He never did work on this project because we’ve never had a study to address it. Traverso knew nothing about the multi-use path,” Murphy said.
“I would have appreciated at least a phone call before all these businesses signed a petition, so that I could clarify what the city’s policy is – not eliminating parking. When we submitted a document requesting a quarter million dollars to Sen. Boyd and Rep. Robinson in January, it said this project would be parking neutral, meaning we’re not eliminating any parking,” Murphy said.
The mayor was referring to a Jan. 8 email from City Clerk LeAnne Addy to the city’s lobbyist, Bethany McAlister, in response to a follow-up question about parking neutrality.
McMullen asked Murphy why the multi-use path wouldn’t be extended to Pine Avenue and said, “It just doesn’t make any sense to me to stop at Magnolia when everyone wants to go to Pine.”
“It’s a matter of resources and money, so we take it a piece at a time,” Murphy responded.
Commissioner Mark Short acknowledged differing opinions have been previously expressed about eliminating the parallel parking spaces along Pine Avenue, but he said it’s always been the commission’s intent to preserve those spaces.
“The last thing I want to see happen is the city lose any parking spots, especially in the commercial area,” Short said.
“I’m opposed to parallel parking on Pine because you can’t see around those cars,” McMullen countered.
PETITIONERS SPEAK
When addressing the commission, Foster said, “I’m the one that started the petition. It wasn’t my intention to catch you guys off guard. It was my intention though to stop the funding for this funding request. The request is very black and white. It says, ‘businesses, visitors, residents have all expressed a desire to see the current multi-use path expanded from Willow Avenue to Magnolia.’”
Foster said he and the other business owners who signed the petition and attended Thursday’s meeting never expressed a desire to extend the multi-use path: “I just want to run my business and be a good citizen. This scared me because I do know the impact those parking spaces have.”
John Cagnina is one of the owners of the building leased to Ginny’s and Jane E’s, Body & Sol Spa & Wellness and Snips Hair Salon, three of the seven businesses whose owners signed the petition. Cagnina also signed the petition.
He said eliminating those 13 spaces along Gulf Drive would be a catastrophe.
“Those parking spaces turn over two, three, four times a day,” he said, noting this can amount to more than 300 people using those spaces per day.
Cagnina requested the commission instead direct bicyclists down Willow Avenue and away from the heavily-congested commercial district that lies ahead along Gulf Drive. He said it’s nerve-racking to drive through that area when bicyclists and pedestrians are coming from every direction.
In response, McMullen said, “The people won’t go down Willow and make a detour. They’re going to keep going right down Gulf with their bicycles.”
Cagnina said a designated bike path down Willow Avenue would be more inviting to bicyclists and might encourage more of them to use that alternate route.
“Right now, it’s just a road,” Cagnina said.
Before the commission reached its 4-1 consensus, McMullen said, “I’m against saying you can’t do anything to the parking spaces.”
After leaving city hall, Foster said, “I feel a tremendous amount of relief. All but one of them agreed they would not touch that parking. I’m happy with the outcome and I’m going to let the state know as well. This is not about politics, it’s about our livelihoods.”
Body & Sol owner Amanda Escobio agreed and said, “I’m relieved.”
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