Aug. 24 open house for businesses and Aug. 31 commission workshop still planned for broader discussion of issues
On Aug. 3, just moments before they took yet another vote on the paid parking changes they approved this spring, Sarasota City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch reminded her colleagues, “Nobody was thrilled about it” when she asked in late July to add the discussion to that day’s agenda.
Yet, after listening to 20 speakers plead — at 3 minutes each — for discontinuation of the parking changes, and then asking for comments from City Manager Karie Friling, the board members voted unanimously to temporarily suspend the extended hours of enforcement that they had approved. As Ahearn-Koch also pointed out, “Sundays will be free again.”
Among the speakers — most of whom own or manage downtown businesses — Rachel Burns, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association, told the commissioners that while she appreciated their decision to address the issues that day, “I do want to ask that, in the future, you speak with stakeholders before making these changes and listen to our feedback.”
She added, “St. Armands merchants are assessed almost $275,000 annually for city parking.” She was referencing funds designated to pay off the bonds that covered the cost of the St. Armands parking garage.
“We do have a stake in the game,” Burns continued, “and we have hit our limit. Since its inception in 2018,” she said, “paid parking has been a nightmare for the City of Sarasota and a nuisance to all of the local businesses that it was created to support.”
Construction of the garage began in 2018, after the bonds were issued in 2017.
As The Sarasota News Leader reported, when the City Commission met on July 20, eight people addressed the parking changes. Their remarks, along with a multitude of emails that Commissioner Ahearn-Koch had referenced that day, prompted her to propose the Aug. 3 discussion.
Already, during their regular meeting on May 18, the commissioners had voted to cease charging for parking until after 1 p.m. on Sundays. That was a reaction to complaints from a number of representatives of downtown Sarasota churches.
The Aug. 3 vote immediately returned parking enforcement to the following schedule, as emphasized in a city news release issued on Aug. 4:
- On-street paid parking — 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
- City garages — 7 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. (The first hour remains free whenever a parking session begins.)
- Free time-restricted spaces —9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
The commissioners ultimately did agree to leave in place the increases in parking citation fines, both for vehicles remaining in spaces longer than allowed and safety violations. “Overtime parking carries a fine of $30,” the city news release noted, with safety violations carrying a fine of $50. The latter include citations for parking in crosswalks and at fire hydrants, as well as back-in parking, which is not allowed in the city, Phil Deveau, the Parking Division’s operations manager, noted.
The Aug. 4 city news release also noted that the open house and a City Commission workshop on parking issues, which had been scheduled prior to the Aug. 3 meeting, still will be held as follows:
- Parking open house — 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 24, at City Hall, which stands at 1565 First St.
- City Commission workshop — 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, at City Hall.
“During the parking open house,” the release said, “staff will provide a presentation followed by a question and answer opportunity with questions submitted in writing.”
Prior to the Aug. 3 vote, Vice Mayor Kathy Kelly Ohlrich did tell her colleagues, “I philosophically believe that parking should remain an enterprise fund. And that means … the fees that are charged should cover the expenses of parking.”
During a March 23 presentation to the board members, Broxton Harvey, then general manager of the Parking Division, had pointed out that an enterprise fund “is supposed to have the capability to actually fund itself,” without having to take money out of the city’s General Fund.
The General Fund is the repository of the city’s annual property tax revenue and other sources of income, such as state revenue sharing. The General Fund pays for the operations of departments that do not generate sufficient revenue on their own to cover their expenses — or, in some cases, no revenue at all.
“We’re trying to get ourselves out of the hole and also [stay] out of the hole,” Harvey told the commissioners that day. The City Commission over the years has approved numerous subsidies to the division, covering gaps between its revenue and expenses.
The extended enforcement hours had been in effect since June 29.
‘It wasn’t the right thing’
During the Aug. 3 discussion, Ohlrich pointed out that Harvey had proposed extending the paid hours for parking or raising the fees for parking. “We had the best of intentions, and we thought that extending the hours and keeping the rates low would be the solution,” she added. “We didn’t talk to our stakeholders. We didn’t talk to the restaurateurs, the retailers, our residents or our tourists. We talked to ourselves, and we thought we did the right thing. Clearly,” she said, “It wasn’t the right thing.”
City Manager Friling told the commissioners that she already had been conducting her own “brainstorming sessions” in regard to how best to deal with the issue, noting that she has 30 years of experience in contending with similar issues. “I am confident that there is a solution that we can move forward on.”
Friling added, “There are communities across this country who would die to have the downtown that we have today, who are working diligently to create the downtown that we have today.”
Friling also told them that she believes it will take some time to craft the best solution to the issues that have been raised.
“I’m not frustrated or discouraged,” she continued. “I just celebrated my second month [in city employment] on Friday [July 31].” She laughed and added, “Boy, it’s been a doozy.”
“I do believe there’s a solution here that we can get to,” Friling said again. “And I do believe that it’s very important that our businesses feel that we care about them.”
Moreover, she told the commissioners, “I think turnover of our parking is still important, and we still need the enforcement of that.”
During remarks following Friling’s comments, city Planning Director Steve Cover told the board members, “This is not the greatest economy right now for businesses,” no matter what type of operation. “Gas prices do actually have a significant impact on businesses,” he pointed out.
He had talked with a couple of people who work downtown, he indicated, who had told him, “Business was really pretty good up until [the Sarasota County School District’s spring break period in March], and then it dropped off.”
Cover also noted that a report he had read that morning on a study that had been conducted explained that “when gas prices hit around three-and-a-half dollars a gallon, that will produce a major impact” on retail sales and restaurants.
At the beginning of March, Cover continued, the average price of gasoline was about $3 per gallon, and it … blew right through [$3.50 right around the time of spring break].” It later climbed above $4, he noted, “and it really hasn’t come down to $3.50 again …”
Cover pointed out that the general state of the economy is a factor in the parking discussion.