No parking signs on scenic highway debated
BRADENTON BEACH –The city’s Scenic WAVES Committee is concerned about the visual appearance of 61 new “No parking on right of way by order of D.O.T.” signs recently installed along Gulf Drive South near Coquina Beach, Leffis Key and the Coquina boat ramps.
The signs were installed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) at the request of Bradenton Beach Police Chief John Cosby, who asked for the signs a year ago. The police department shares the responsibility of enforcing FDOT’s longstanding prohibition on parking in the state-owned rights of way along Gulf Drive/SR 789.
The Scenic WAVES Committee consists of citizens and liaisons from FDOT, Manatee County and other agencies. The committee advises the city commission on landscaping and beautification efforts in Bradenton Beach. The committee also initiates and conducts landscaping and beautification projects.
The entire stretch of Gulf Drive/SR 789 in Bradenton Beach is designated by the state as a scenic highway and the committee also serves as the city’s scenic highway board.
The new “no parking” signs were discussed during the committee’s Feb. 15 meeting.
Committee Chair Ingrid McClellan noted there are 61 new “no parking” signs in the quarter-mile stretch of Gulf Drive South near Coquina Beach and the Coquina boat ramps. She surmised that placing so many signs so close together results in the sign poles serving as barriers that prevent parking there. McClellan said she was surprised there was no preliminary discussion before the signs were installed.
Citing the Bradenton Beach Scenic Highway Corridor Management Plan, McClellan said ropes and wooden bollards would have been a more natural-looking means of preventing parking along the scenic highway.
“The problem is trying to be solved with the wrong solution,” McClellan said.
Liza Click serves as the Manatee County supervisor for property management in the grounds division. She also serves as a county liaison to the Scenic WAVES Committee.
The new “no parking” signs now line both sides of Gulf Drive South at the south end of the city. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Click said she was surprised to see that many signs when she drove in that morning.
“It was just shocking,” she said.
Click said she’d rather see trees there than signs, but acknowledged the parking issues do exist.
“Holiday weekends are horrible,” she said.
Click said in the past people have removed bollards, barricades and caution tape in order to park near the beach; and vehicles were sometimes double or triple-parked in the right of way.
“They’re still going to park between these signs,” Click said.
Click said the county drainage and parking lot improvements taking place at Coquina Beach will provide some relief.
“We created two overflow parking areas which will accommodate somewhere between 160 and 180 cars once all this construction is done. That’s at our discretion to open up when we see that it’s at capacity and those other cars that are jockeying for spots are starting to park illegally on the sides of the road,” she said.
FDOT District Landscape Architect Darryl Richard also serves as a Scenic WAVES Committee liaison.
Regarding the new signs, Richard said, “This doesn’t happen in a void. Someone had to request this number of signs.”
Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie serves as the city commission’s Scenic WAVES liaison.
“I’m not a big proponent of signs. We have it in writing from the FDOT traffic engineer. That’s how many were needed to cover the area,” Chappie said.
“It is illegal to park in the FDOT right of way. There is a clear safety concern. Whether there’s bollards there or not, people will park there. We haven’t been able to stop them so far and it’s a dangerous situation,” Chappie said.
Chappie said it’s also important to reduce the risk of confrontation faced by Bradenton Beach police officers, county sheriff’s deputies and county code enforcement officers when enforcing the state’s parking prohibition.
Richard acknowledged that enforcement personnel do get pushback from those being ticketed for parking in the right of way and they question why they’re being ticketed when there’s no signs saying they can’t park there.
Possible solutions
Regarding the Scenic WAVES Committee pursuing any sign reductions, Chappie said, “The city is not going to authorize our advisory group going any further than this meeting on this. We’re not going to just get rid of the signs. It’s going to take some convincing because of the issues we’ve had over the last several years, and it’s just getting worse. We did this once before and removed all the signs and then we started having more problems. When they (FDOT) put these out, their engineers said this is how many you have to have to be enforceable.”
Richard said he met with Manatee County Deputy Director of Sports and Leisure Services, Grounds Division, Carmine DeMilio the previous week.
“He mentioned he wanted to do something at Coquina Beach. Maybe you (the county) can sponsor a project and include the consideration of bollards or landscaping and some of the parking signs can possibly be adjusted or removed. We wouldn’t remove all of them. You’ve still got to communicate to the public. Everyone who’s been to the beach knows it’s a madhouse on peak days,” Richard said.
Richard said he doesn’t envision any changes taking place in the immediate future, with peak season and spring break approaching.
Click said she would also talk to DeMilio about the possibility of installing landscaping elements or landscaping beds that might each replace some of the “no parking” signs. She said she can envision ways to reduce the number of signs and still prevent people from parking in those areas.
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