HOLMES BEACH – It’s been just over one week since city leaders enacted a plan to limit parking on residential streets on the west side of the city, angering some residents, business owners and visitors.
Now city leaders are considering making changes to the city’s land development code to help ease some of the community’s parking concerns.
The week started with an online petition aimed at convincing city leaders to reverse a decision to block off-street parking in residential neighborhoods west of the city’s main corridors of Gulf, Marina and Palm drives, gaining more than 10,000 signatures from locals and visitors.
It ended with a letter from Florida Senate President Bill Galvano (R-Manatee) and Rep. Will Robinson (R-Manatee) asking Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth to consider retracting the parking regulations.
Titsworth responded that city leaders are considering changing the land development code to allow businesses and churches to charge for beach parking. She added that she’s also meeting with Manatee County leaders to discuss parking and has approached the Manatee County School District to determine if the lot at Anna Maria Elementary School can be used for overflow beach parking. Another potential solution is to issue parking permits to residents.
The new parking regulations eliminated 1,102 on-street parking spaces, leaving 1,307 spaces available within a quarter-mile of the beach, including the Manatee Beach parking lot.
Work vehicles where employees are performing maintenance, construction or other commercial services at a property are not affected by the parking regulations and may still use street parking on any Holmes Beach street while they are completing work at a nearby residence or business.
Holmes Beach was the last of the three Island cities to enact strict parking restrictions.
The issue
Holmes Beach, while the largest of the three cities on Anna Maria Island, is only about 1.91 square miles on a seven-mile island. Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said that about 18,000-23,000 cars cross into the city on a daily basis with that number more than doubling on holiday weekends. And while not everyone is going to the beach, a large number of people are, and that number is continuing to grow as more people move to Manatee County each year. Despite the growing demand for parking spaces, he said there’s just no more space in the city to accommodate more people and that beach parking in neighborhoods is problematic for residents who end up with beachgoers parked on their property and often leaving behind trash or attempting to use outdoor facilities, such as hoses and swimming pools, as their own.
Titsworth said that the beach parking in residential neighborhoods creates a public health concern due to the lack of restroom facilities, limited trash disposal options and lack of lifeguards outside of the Manatee Beach area. Manatee Beach is a public beach at the end of Manatee Avenue in Holmes Beach that is home to more than 300 public parking spaces, restroom facilities, showers, a full restaurant and playground, and the waters are watched over by lifeguards. Within the residential neighborhoods, she said there is no space to install these types of facilities. Tokajer said that even if facilities could be added, there’s simply no way to meet the demand for beach parking.
The residential street parking also poses a problem for trash collection vehicles, mail trucks, EMS vehicles and fire department trucks, which have a difficult time navigating the sometimes narrow streets. If visitors are parked up and down the street, the vehicles may not be able to get through, which particularly concerns city officials in the event of an emergency.
The protest
While some residents are happy with the new parking regulations, some are not and have taken to social media, email and public forums to air their grievances with the city.
Residents who live on the east side of the city say they cannot easily access the beach if parking in residential neighborhoods is closed to them. Some residents who live in the area where the no parking signs went up are concerned because street parking that they use for visitors, family members and extra vehicles is now gone.
Some business owners are worried about having to police their own lots to stop beachgoers from using the spaces reserved for customers as beach parking. Some also fear that the reduction in parking will mean a reduction in the number of people who patronize local restaurants and shops, just reopened from COVID-19 shutdowns.
During a protest held on June 9 at Holmes Beach City Hall, more than 50 people gathered with signs to demonstrate their frustration with city leaders and their opposition to the removal of on-street parking spots. Besides city residents and business owners, Manatee County residents came to express concern about their ability to access beach parking.
Many spoke out against what they called an abuse of power by the city’s mayor, police chief and commissioners to change parking regulations while the city is still under a state of emergency due to COVID-19 and commissioners are meeting virtually rather than in person at city hall. Many people argued that the decision had been made without public notice and input.
While the discussion was never formally put on a city commission agenda, it was discussed in the virtual meetings, which are open to the public, beginning in April and has been reported in The Sun 10 times since parking was first limited in the city to encourage social distancing during the governor’s stay-at-home order for Florida residents.
At press time for The Sun, the petition on change.org had garnered more than 11,400 signatures. Another petition bearing 68 signatures of residents, business owners and Island workers was presented to city leaders during the June 9 commission meeting asking commissioners to reconsider the parking regulations.
The June 9 meeting was attended by more than 120 people who called in or joined through their computers and more than a dozen spoke up about parking regulations during public comment with more sending in comments by email to be read by commissioners.
Resident comments
Holmes Beach resident, business owner and commission candidate Rick Hurst spoke first during public comment, noting that he had sent commissioners a petition with more than 200 signatures requesting that the new parking regulations be rescinded. He argued that commissioners did not get enough public input on the plan before it was implemented.
Bradenton Beach vacation rental owner John Little said that in his estimation, the city of Holmes Beach is “100% dependent on visitors” and that by not allowing street parking in residential neighborhoods, the city wasn’t being very welcoming to visitors.
Holmes Beach resident Karen Gertz-Casper said she’d like to know what the city will be doing to help residents who have lost their parking and easy beach access.
Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore said that out of the more than 400,000 county residents that she represents, she’s had several complaints about the city’s new parking restrictions and that the residential street parking has traditionally been available to beachgoers to use. Whitmore added that she also was concerned about the way the restrictions were enacted.
Manatee County residents Stephanie Ham, Meagan Cox and Jason Hall all spoke against the parking restrictions, stating that county residents have a right to the parking and to access the Island’s beaches.
Holmes Beach residents Gale Tedhams and Renee Ferguson spoke in favor of the parking restrictions, though Tedhams was concerned about how to handle visitors coming to her home who need parking. Ferguson stated that she wants people to come to the beach but agrees that there will never be enough parking to meet the demand. She said that she believes the parking issue in Holmes Beach was created by Manatee County leaders who advertise the Island’s beaches and then provide limited facilities for visitors to use, including parking spaces.
The solution
While a solution to the issues brought to their attention by residents, visitors and business owners has yet to be proposed by city leaders, some options are being considered at coming commission meetings and work sessions, including allowing businesses and churches to charge people to use their parking lots and issuing parking permits for residents.
In the short term, Tokajer said that bike racks can be added at beach access points to accommodate more cyclists and that he plans to add at least two golf cart-only parking spaces at each beach access point where parking is available. Four disabled accessible spots and a ramp are planned for installation at the 52nd Street beach access. He also said that residents who need to use street parking for a family gathering, event or other short-term use can contact the police department, tell the dispatcher how many people are expected and when, and officers will temporarily cover the no parking signs in that area to accommodate the needed street parking.
To follow along with what’s happening at city hall, visit www.holmesbeachfl.org.
