MANATEE COUNTY – In the aftermath of a Manatee County Commission work session discussing the building of a parking garage at Manatee Beach, city and county officials continue to make their thoughts known on the hotly debated project.
During the Aug. 14 work session, county Commissioner Jason Bearden said that the beach parking garage should be “the top priority for the county.” This would rank the proposed three-story parking structure at the county-owned beach in Holmes
Beach, with an estimated 900 parking spaces at a cost of $30-50 million, higher than parking garages at the downtown Bradenton county administration building, among others.
Manatee County commissioners stated the garage would provide beach access for everyone in the county, which has almost half a million residents. Anna Maria Island is a 7-mile-long barrier island that is 1 mile wide at the widest point. According to Holmes Beach police, who patrol the Manatee Beach parking lot, the lot has more than 400 parking spaces with hundreds more located within a quarter mile of the public beach access, the only one in the city with restroom, shower and concession facilities.
The current downtown garage has an estimated lifespan of less than two years due to structural issues. A presentation on the plans for that garage estimates that it will cost about $100 million to construct and, once complete, would potentially have two stories of office space for county staff and parking for both the administration building and the downtown business and entertainment district at large.
Bearden’s comments were echoed by Commissioners James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Commissioner George Kruse stated that while he’s not in opposition to putting a garage at the site, he doesn’t feel that it’s the project that’s most needed in the county right now. He was the sole member of the county commission who opted not to move the project forward into the design phase at this time.
After the meeting, Kruse released a statement reiterating his position on the proposed beach parking garage. He said that while the county has heard many reasons from residents why the garage should not be built, personally, he has two reasons why the project should slow down, not speed up. The first reason, Kruse said, is the cost of the parking garage versus other needs in the county that could better serve a larger number of people. Some of his examples include failing infrastructure across the county, the planned Fort Hamer Bridge, which he said would help more than 21,000 people a day in their commutes and cost approximately $60 million, and the planned downtown parking garage, all of which are currently awaiting funding.
Kruse went on to say that these projects could better enhance the quality of life for more county residents than a few hundred parking spaces at the beach.
During the county presentation, staff said there are approximately 300 surface parking spaces at the county beach available. If the garage is built, it will remove those spaces, along with the concession stand, retail stores, restrooms, bar and showers, for a minimum of 18-24 months. The new facilities would be incorporated into the bottom level of the garage, providing about 900 parking spaces on the property for beachgoers.
While the county presentation listed Manatee Beach as having about 300 parking spaces, Holmes Beach officials state that the existing parking area has 406 spaces. When first proposed, Van Ostenbridge said the beach garage would have 1,500 or more parking spaces. County staff said it would have a maximum of 900 spaces, increasing parking at the public beach by 496 spaces according to the city or 600 according to the county.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, whose officers patrol the beach property, also issued a statement following the county work session. In his statement, Tokajer said that even during heavy beach days, such as over spring break, there were regularly 100-300 parking spaces available in the city for beachgoers that went unused. He also noted that if the garage is approved, lanes need to be installed along the sand for first responders and law enforcement personnel to be able to respond to an emergency situation.
“Approving this garage will truly put you on the wrong side of history,” he said. “You will be ruining the character of the Island, the experience that past guests have had and future guests expect. Destroying a beautiful landmark with open space, a natural environment filled with trees and nature, replacing this historic site with a massive concrete public safety nightmare.”
In addition to concerns about being able to access beachgoers in an emergency, Tokajer has also expressed concerns about patrolling the garage structure itself and traffic and safety concerns due to the congestion caused by a larger number of people trying to get in and out of the garage at the same time.
