Funding included in Surtax 4 program, which will begin in January
During the Sarasota County Commission’s June 19 budget workshop, the board members, by consensus, indicated their willingness to allow the county’s Public Works Department staff to keep on its Innovation Efforts list a project that the staff is calling a Beach Parking Capacity System.
Proposed a couple of years ago by then-Commissioner Christian Ziegler, the system would keep a constant count of spaces open in the public parking lots of Siesta Beach and Turtle Beach on Siesta Key, Spencer Anderson, director of Public Works, explained.
Devices would be placed in those parking lots, he said, to keep track of spaces open and to determine when the lots are full. Then, the information would be provided on electronic signs along the roads that drivers use to reach Siesta Key.
“If [a lot is] full,” Anderson pointed out, “the signs would say, ‘Full.’ ”
However, he continued, “If we were ever going to institute a paid parking system in those beach parks, [the capacity system] would probably be integrated into that system.” Therefore, if staff proceeded with plans for the installation of the capacity system, and the commissioners decided at a later time to implement paid parking in those lots, the system more than likely would have to be removed and reconfigured to operate in conjunction with the payment equipment.
He noted that when the county commissioners several years ago approved the funding priority list for the Surtax 4 program — which will begin on Jan. 1, 2025 — they included $1 million for the Beach Parking Capacity System.
The Surtax program is funded with a voter-approved, additional penny of sales tax. The county dedicates 50% of its revenue to transportation initiatives.
After the Sarasota County School Board automatically receives 25% of the Surtax money, the rest of the funds are divvied up among the county and the county’s municipalities on the basis of their populations, county webpages explain.
Surtax 4 won voter approval during the 2022 November General Election. It will be in effect through 2039.
During a discussion in January 2022, then-Commissioner Ziegler also advocated for the creation of a county app, to which the parking lot data could be uploaded in real time. “You could literally be sitting in your own chair before you head out to the beach, take out your phone and say, [for example], ‘Well, there’s only 10 spots.’” In that case, a person could decide to drive to a different beach, Ziegler said.
People do not trust a sign that says simply that the parking lot is full, he pointed out.
“There’s been a lot of support on Siesta Key for this [sensor proposal],” he told his colleagues during his board report, which was part of the commission’s regular meeting on Jan. 25, 2022.
The app and signage could prevent extra cars from being on Siesta’s roads when no beach parking is available, Ziegler stressed.
If the initiative proved successful, he said, it could be used at the other public beaches in the county. “That’s a great amenity for a local community.”
The initial expense, he added, could run from $300,000 to $500,000, based on what he had learned from county staff. Therefore, it would be best to test the proposal on Siesta before rolling it out to other beach parks, Ziegler noted.
“Siesta Key’s obviously frustrated with the traffic going there,” Ziegler continued. However, if a sensor/signage/app system would prevent needless trips to the Key and the resulting waste of time driving around, looking for parking spots, he said, that would be a big benefit.
Next steps?
After Anderson completed his comments during the June 19 budget workshop, Commissioner Neil Rainford asked him, “Have we seen any other applications [of this type of system], ’cause it’s going to be a little bit tricky. You’re going to want to notify [beachgoers] before they turn to go towards the beach, so that they’re not turning around out there [on Siesta], right?”
Anderson responded that he knows such system are in place in other communities, but he did not have the names of those locations with him at that time. He told Rainford he would provide that information to the board.
Rainford noted that he was aware of prior commissions having discussed the potential of implementing paid parking at the beaches on Siesta. “I would be open to hearing about [those conversations],” Rainford added.
“The parking out there [on the island] in season is crazy,” Commissioner Joe Neunder pointed out, noting that he and Commissioner Mark Smith represent Siesta Key as part of their districts. The southern portion of the barrier island is part of Neunder’s District 4 territory.
“This is the 21st century,” Neunder continued. “We know parking is an issue … and any time you can prevent some consternation and some heartburn for a family, perhaps [with young children],” that would be a good plan, Neunder suggested.
“I think this would be a very interesting concept and a great public service,” he added. However, he said that he, too, would like more information about the proposal.
Anderson did point out that such a system will “only assist the people who want to be helped.” He said that many times, even when “Parking Lot Full” signs have been set up by Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office personnel at the entrances to Siesta Beach Parks, drivers take the view, “ ‘I’m going to find a spot.’ ”
Moreover, Anderson noted, the electronic signs are efficient only if regular data is conveyed to them.
With no other comments on the topic, the commissioners moved on to another part of Anderson’s presentation.