Skip to main content

Tag: beach parking garage

Beach parking garage gets design funding

Beach parking garage gets design funding

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Featured, Manatee County.

MANATEE COUNTY – Whether residents want it or not, the wheels are in motion for county taxpayers to foot the bill for a three-story parking garage at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach.

County commissioners voted unanimously on May 14 to approve $1.125 million for a preliminary design criteria package for the parking structure.

The item was listed as a budget amendment under the consent agenda before Commissioner George Kruse pulled it for discussion; consent agenda items are voted on without discussion. The funds for a pre-design criteria package of the parking structure, along with $625,000 for a similar design package for a parking garage at the Bradenton Area Convention Center and $1,175,000 for a garage at the Premiere Sports complex, total $2,925,000. The budget amendment states that those funds are being transferred from the 2023 Revenue Improvement Bonds Capital Projects fund.

Kruse said he pulled the item from the consent agenda because he felt that the commission needed to have more discussion before committing taxpayer funds to come up with a plan for the garages during an RFP process for designing and building the structures. He noted that while other infrastructure projects have been delayed for two years or more due to a lack of funding, commissioners are willing to push the parking garage projects forward. He said he felt the commission should have gotten more information before spending money.

“We say we’re fiscally conservative up here,” Kruse said, noting that he has a lot of questions about why his fellow commissioners are willing to spend taxpayer funds without more information.

Speaking on behalf of county staff, Manatee County Director of Property Management Cary Knight said, “My understanding of the process that was put into place is that we’re bringing on an architecture firm to do a pre-design criteria package. That pre-design criteria package then gets included with RFQ for a three-P partner (public-private partnership) to come and make proposals for how they would build the building, how they would finance it, how they would make money off of it, whether or not it would be a paid parking situation or maybe the county is a lease situation where the three-P becomes basically the bank for the county. That’s kind of the process that’s in place right now.”

“It seems like this is almost a cart before a horse,” Kruse said. He added that he feels the county staff could determine if paid parking is a viable option. He suggested looking at established paid parking in Bradenton Beach to see utilization, hourly rates and what the backlash from visitors and residents is. He said he feels he’d rather spend the money elsewhere.

Despite Kruse’s misgivings on the topic, he voted in favor of allocating the funds to design services for the three parking garages.

County Administrator Charlie Bishop said the county isn’t “an expert on building parking garages” and is relying on Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, to determine that public-private partnerships are viable at the three proposed parking garage locations.

The downtown Bradenton parking garage, which has been deemed structurally poor and needs to be replaced as soon as possible, was not on the list of proposed garages discussed at the May 14 meeting.

The beach parking garage is a pet project for Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who represents the residents of Anna Maria Island and west Bradenton, many of whom have spoken out publicly against a parking garage at the county-owned beach in Holmes Beach. Van Ostenbridge has disregarded protests from residents and visitors, along with other county commissioners, stating that the parking garage would allow for more inclusive beach access for county residents, despite the fact that he plans for the garage to have paid parking instead of the free parking currently allowed in Holmes Beach.

While Holmes Beach city leaders have staunchly defended their city against the encroachment of paid parking, which has sprung up to the north and south in Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach, Mayor Judy Titsworth has stated that if county commissioners build the garage with paid parking, the city may have to rethink its stance on paid parking.

SIDESTEPPING HOLMES BEACH

Currently both multi-level parking garages and paid parking are against the city’s land development code and ordinances. County commissioners opted to circumvent the city by going to the Manatee County state legislative delegation. The five-member delegation pushed a bill through the state Legislature in 2023 allowing the county to build the parking garage at Manatee Beach without approval or permits from the city.

During a 2023 county commission work session, Van Ostenbridge presented his ideas to his fellow board members. He said the garage would have three stories with a fourth parking level on the roof and span the entirety of the buildable space at the public beach park. The current historic concession stand, retail space, bar, restroom and shower facilities would be demolished with new facilities built into the parking garage. At the time, he estimated the parking garage could be built for about $45 million.

Van Ostenbridge said the garage would have around 900 parking spaces, about 450 more than what currently exists on the Manatee Beach property, and paid parking of at least $2 per hour would be necessary to pay for the construction of the garage and the estimated $200,000 annual maintenance costs.

During demolition and construction, the current parking spaces and facilities would be unavailable to beachgoers, meaning that the only beach on Anna Maria Island with restroom, shower and changing facilities would be Coquina Beach on the southern tip of the Island.

Island residents, visitors and elected officials alike all protested strongly prior to the bill being filed during the legislative session and continue to do so.

The latest protest action against the parking garage occurred earlier this month at a rally hosted by residents’ group Save Florida Home Rule, where several people spoke out against the building of a parking garage at Manatee Beach. None of the county commissioners attended, though a contender for Van Ostenbridge’s seat on the county commission, Diana Shoemaker, did speak and said she was committed to hearing the voices of the residents in District 3, not dismissing them as she said some others have done and continue to do.

Hundreds rally against consolidation, garage

Hundreds rally against consolidation, garage

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Featured.

HOLMES BEACH – The Florida heat didn’t stop a crowd from gathering at City Field on Saturday to express their opposition to the Manatee County Commission and Florida Legislature consolidating or eliminating the three Anna Maria Island cities and building a parking garage at Manatee Beach.

The rally, held on May 4 by the Save Florida Home Rule grassroots activist group, brought hundreds of people to the pavilion, including residents, visitors, property owners and other interested community members. The rallying cry for the group was “save home rule.” It was a sentiment echoed by all in attendance as Island elected officials, residents, city staff and a county commission candidate took the stage to share facts with the community on both issues and speak out against the ongoing state-mandated Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) study and a planned parking garage at the public beach.

Save Florida Home Rule organizer Barbara Ehren was first to take the stage, telling onlookers about the grassroots effort to stop government overreach at the state and county levels to bypass municipal land development codes and ordinances regarding development on the Island. The rally was the second official event for the group following a Hands Across the Sand event held in April that was attended by more than 300 people.

Stepping in for Mayor Judy Titsworth was Holmes Beach Commissioner Terry Schaefer, who said he believes that the push to dissolve the cities is to get rid of land use regulations to allow for increased development on the Island. He said that city leaders are working to mount a “strong defense” against government overreach and that he’s happy to see so many community members getting involved in the effort with the hopes that the battle to hang on to the cities won’t get that far.

Hundreds rally against consolidation, garage
Commissioner Terry Schaefer stepped in for Mayor Judy Titsworth to speak on behalf of the city of Holmes Beach. – Kristin Swain | Sun

Schaefer discussed the ongoing unfounded rhetoric largely being voiced by county commissioners, primarily that the city does not have enough parking and that city leaders refuse to work with the county. He said the parking garage and OPPAGA study efforts began at a January 2023 Manatee County state legislative delegation meeting. The parking garage effort was moved through the state House and Senate in an effort to allow the county to circumvent Holmes Beach regulations that do not allow for multi-level parking garages as a land use or paid parking in the city. He said that no county staff or commissioners approached the city to seek a potential exemption for a parking garage at Manatee Beach.

City leaders are required to provide just over 500 parking spaces at beach access points, including the county-owned Manatee Beach under an interlocal agreement governing beach renourishment. Schaefer said the city provides 752 parking spaces at the beach and beach access points throughout the city with hundreds more marked spaces available within a quarter mile of the beach. Police Chief Bill Tokajer regularly counts parking spaces during high-traffic events, such as holiday weekends, and noted that even during spring break there were regularly 70-100 or more spaces available to the public.

“The turnout at a recent Hands Across the Sand and today is certainly encouraging and inspirational to all of us,” Schaefer said. He thanked the assembled community members, stating that he believes it will take not only the Island’s elected officials fighting back but also the residents and property owners to maintain their current way of life.

Holmes Beach Commissioner Dan Diggins also spoke, as well as Anna Maria residents stepping in with short statements from their city leaders, all stating they are against the consolidation of the cities.

One name that came up multiple times during the rally was that of County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge.

Speakers stated that Van Ostenbridge was largely the catalyst behind the effort for the parking garage, an effort that he previously told The Sun he was putting forth to make the beach accessible for all. If the parking garage is built, Van Ostenbridge said it would be paid parking. It would also make Manatee Beach and the restroom, food and beverage, and retail facilities there, along with parking, inaccessible during three or more years of construction on the parking garage. The existing facilities would be destroyed and new ones would be built in the three-story garage with additional parking on the roof. Previously, Titsworth said that she’s fighting to keep parking in Holmes Beach free for everyone, but that if a paid parking garage was constructed at Manatee Beach city leaders would have to rethink their stance on that. Holmes Beach is the only Island city that does not allow paid parking. Currently, there is no funding to build the parking garage.

County commission candidate Diana Shoemaker spoke, sending a few shots at Van Ostenbridge, whose seat on the dais she’s seeking to fill. Shoemaker will face off against either Van Ostenbridge or Tal Siddique on the November election ballot, depending on which one wins the August Republican primary.

If elected, Shoemaker vowed to work with Island residents to make sure that their voices are heard at the county level and to work to stop government overreach in the municipalities.

While Van Ostenbridge has not been directly linked to the ongoing OPPAGA study looking at options to consolidate the cities into one, dissolve the municipalities and consolidate them into either unincorporated Manatee County or the city of Bradenton, or leave them as-is, his strained relationship with the elected officials of the cities, particularly Holmes Beach, has been well-vocalized by the commissioner both on and off the dais. After a recent OPPAGA visit, Holmes Beach leaders were left with the distinct impression that the option being most strongly considered is the elimination of the three municipalities, folding them into unincorporated Manatee County and directly under the authority of the county commission.

Ending the rally, Ehren restated the motto of the Save Florida Home Rule group, “Keep your hands off our cities.”