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City commissioners question paid parking contract

City commissioners question paid parking contract

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners took issue with multiple provisions of a proposed parking lot management contract between the city and Shawn Kaleta-owned Beach to Bay Investments Inc., opting to continue the discussion at a Tuesday, July 16 meeting.

At a March 7 commission meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a bid from Beach to Bay Investments, the sole bidder for RFP 2024-03, to manage the existing parking lot between Church and Highland Avenues by the Public Works Department in a 50/50 split partnership with the city.

City Attorney Ricinda Perry read the terms of the proposed contract to commissioners on June 20 and several of the provisions raised concerns among the commission.

One of the sticking points was a clause that stated in part, “All decisions as to changes, charges and rates, and the timing and modification of same during the term of this Agreement and extensions or renewals of same shall be made by the operator (Beach to Bay) in its sole discretion.”

Commissioner Ralph Cole said that stipulation conflicted with his recollection of the discussion of parking rates at the March meeting and he requested time to review the audio recording.

“I thought we had thoroughly discussed pricing in March,” Cole said.

“I hate to say this to a client, but an open-ended determination of the cost was agreed upon by the city,” Perry said. “Nothing in the RFP said it was capped. We’d have damages if we walked away.”

At the March 7 Commission meeting, the following discussion took place.

Mayor John Chappie said, “We’d like to look at a cap on what we charge per hour.”

Pricing would change during the time of the year, Beach to Bay Investment representative Sam Negrin said.

Commissioner Jan Vosburgh asked what the parking rates would be and Negrin said that was open to discussion with the city.

“That’s something we could certainly put a cap on,” Negrin said. “I don’t know what we’re going to charge there yet. The lot across from Beach House charges $5-$10 an hour, so I think it will be somewhere in that range.”

Cole said he would like to know what the hourly charges are in order to make a determination as to which of three offered partnership plans to accept.

Some of the other issues discussed by commissioners at the June 20 meeting were the costs to the city for termination of the agreement.

“Either party shall have the right to terminate this agreement with or without cause upon providing 30 days’ notice to the other party,” according to the agreement proposal.

Beach to Bay Investments will be improving the city-owned parking lot with paving and striping, landscaping, clearing of the lot, signage and installation of lighting and security cameras.

A discussion ensued as to when the city’s obligation for reimbursement for the improvements would be ended in the event of a termination of the agreement.

“We need to have a good number for the cost of the improvements,” Cole said. “I need to see all the numbers before the contract is signed.”

“We can come up with a number the city is comfortable with,” Negrin said at the meeting. “It can be made more specific.”

Perry said she had an issue with indemnification and insurance.

“They want to cap it at $250,000,” Perry said. “Our agreement with John Horne at AMOB is $1 million per occurrence. I have an issue with indemnification and insurance. That’s very important.”

Perry suggested resuming the contract discussion at a future meeting.

“Let’s carry this on to the next meeting,” Chappie said.

A motion to continue the discussion to the July 16 meeting was made by Commissioner Jan Vosburgh and seconded by Cole. The motion passed unanimously.

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Temporary paid parking vendors hired

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners considered four temporary use parking permits at the March 21 commission meeting and after much discussion, approved three with stipulations, denying one.

Permit applications were submitted by developer Shawn Kaleta for temporary parking lots at 102 Third St. N., 207 Church Ave. and 206 Bay Drive N.

Businessman Joshua LaRose submitted a temporary use permit application for the parking lot at 109 Third St. N., which is owned by local restaurateur Ed Chiles.

Commissioners discussed each application individually with the parking lot discussion taking more than two hours for the property at 102 Third St. N., as it is in a designated R-3 residential zone.

“Each application will be addressed individually to protect the existing areas,” Mayor John Chappie said.

Evelyn Stob, a neighbor of the Third Street property, spoke in opposition to the application for a parking lot 102 Third St. N.

“Why are we allowing anyone and everyone to purchase a piece of property, demolish what it is and then say, ‘I need to make it temporary parking because I don’t know what I’m going to do with this lot,’ ” Stob said. “Now my residence is turning into a giant parking lot. It was purchased under R-3 zoning. I feel you have the right to say no.”

“In a way, you’re increasing heavily the traffic that’s going to be going through that neighborhood,” Commissioner Ralph Cole said. “We’ve got four or five of these and we’re changing the whole look. It’s not my vision of Bradenton Beach.”

“A temporary use may be just a little bit outside of what was anticipated in the zoning, but you do have criteria on what must be met. It can’t be obnoxious to the neighborhood. It can’t create a public health/safety/welfare issue,” City Attorney Ricinda Perry said.

Referring to the city’s Land Development Code (LDC), City Attorney Ricinda Perry said, “I believe parking is contemplated for special permit uses because it talks about coffee shops, restaurants, cocktail lounges, retail shops and services and other similar accessory use, well parking is absolutely an accessory to a shop so I believe you can say parking could be contemplated as a special permit use here. You as a legislative body can say that’s not what that means, but then you have to explain why.”

“If we don’t think we have an allowable use, we have to build a case,” Chappie said. “We have to go by the LDC.”

Perry said the commission may add stipulations that will protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.

“The longer the day goes on, that’s all I can see now is parking lots. This is a beautiful place. Do we want parking lots all over the place?” Commissioner Jan Vosburgh asked, voicing concern that if a temporary use permit is approved for one year, the applicant may then ask for an extension.

Sam Negrin, who represented applicant Kaleta, spoke to the commission to alleviate those concerns and said the parking lot will be temporary.

“The properties were bought with the intention of building,” Negrin said. “This is a way to generate revenue in the meantime.”

A motion to approve the temporary use parking permit for 102 Third St. N. for temporary paid parking was passed unanimously with stipulations that include a limit to the number of motor vehicles to be approved by the building official, with no trailers, RVs, campers, buses, overnight parking or tailgating. The property owner will be required to submit a building permit application or land development approval request within eight months of approval of the temporary use permit and a requirement that insurance must be carried by the property owner.

The temporary use permit is valid one year from March 21 or upon the issuance of a building permit, whichever occurs sooner. Landscape buffering is planned along Third Street North via a landscape plan to be approved by the building official, and a privacy fence is planned along the east and west property lines. The installation of a sidewalk is also planned. A site plan is to be submitted to the building official.

The temporary use permit for paid parking was approved unanimously for 207 Church Ave. with similar stipulations for 102 Third St. N., including landscape buffering along Church Avenue and a privacy fence to be installed along the north and south property lines. The applicant may combine parking with 206 Bay Drive N. for purposes of parking, ingress and egress.

The temporary use permit application for 206 Bay Drive N. was approved unanimously with similar stipulations to 102 Third St. N. Hours of paid parking shall be from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

An application for temporary paid parking at 205 First St. N. was withdrawn by Negrin.

The application by Joshua LaRose for a temporary use permit for paid parking at a parking lot owned by Ed Chiles at 109 Third St. N. was denied unanimously by the commission after LaRose indicated that the parking lot may become permanent.

Chappie noted that the lot is in the emergency evacuation route for the south end of Bradenton Beach.