HOLMES BEACH – Homeowners and city officials believe they have found a solution to the Key Royale Drive parking issues that will not require the clearing of city-owned right of ways or the relocation of an existing sidewalk.
In February, concerns were raised about landscaping, construction and other work vehicles and trailers being parked on Key Royale Drive between Marina Drive and the Key Royale bridge that provides access to the Key Royale community, where the roads are wider and there’s more space for streetside parking.
Mayor Judy Titsworth, Police Chief Bill Tokajer, Public Works Director Sage Kamiya and city commissioners recently discussed, then rejected, a proposal to limit streetside parking to the north side of Key Royale Drive only, between Marina Drive and the Key Royale bridge.
To create more space for parking along both sides of the street, city officials then discussed and rejected requiring property owners to clear landscaping and other objects from the city rights of way along that stretch of the road before the city removed the existing sidewalk and installed a new sidewalk 3 feet further to the south to create more space for parking along the south side of the street.
At the request of one potentially-impacted homeowner, Titsworth, Tokajer and Kamiya met with several potentially-impacted residents at the city commission chambers on March 20. On April 8, Titsworth provided city commissioners with a recap of that meeting.
“They love Key Royale Drive the way it is and they feel their houses are already pretty close to the road; and if we take back the right of way, they feel they’re going to be on top of the road,” she told the commission.
Titsworth said some attending residents volunteered to go house to house to remind their neighbors about the existing citywide streetside parking restrictions that include Key Royale Drive.
City code prohibits parking on a city street and requires vehicles to be parked with all tires off the pavement.
“Park Parallel With All Tires Off The Road Where Permitted” signs have been installed along that portion of Key Royale Drive and Tokajer’s officers are more strictly enforcing the existing parking restrictions. Tokajer said service providers are now doing a good job of not parking in the street.
“As long as they’re staying out of the road, we have no issues,” Titsworth said. “The group that talked to us, they just want the cars out of the road. We didn’t really take action, we’re just enforcing the code. We addressed it and we are doing what they asked. We are not going allow cars parked in the road anymore and they will be ticketed.”
Titsworth said residents are also concerned about motorists speeding along that stretch of Key Royale Drive.
“The majority of the meeting was taken up with their concern about the continued speeding and they would like speed tables added,” Titsworth said. “One’s not going to do it. It’s going to take two or three.”
Titsworth said the property owners are happy the current sidewalk will not be relocated and they’d rather see some of that money spent on speed tables instead.
Tokajer said his officers issued eight speeding tickets to Key Royale Drive speeders since the March 20 meeting with homeowners.
“I believe that every one of them was a resident of Key Royale,” he noted.
Related coverage:
Commissioners support latest Key Royale parking proposal
