HOLMES BEACH – Commissioners voted three-to-two to pass an ordinance enacting permit parking in some residential neighborhoods west of the city’s main roadway corridor.
The discussion featured one large change from the previous discussion – the cost of the permits for on-street parking will be paid by the residents.
Commissioners Pat Morton, Terry Schaefer and Carol Soustek all voted in favor of the second and final reading of the ordinance, instituting a price of $15 for each permit.
Commissioners Jim Kihm and Kim Rash voted against the ordinance, both arguing that the cost of the permits should not be paid entirely, if at all, by the residents. Rash offered a compromise of giving one permit to each residential household with subsequent permits charged at the $15 rate. Kihm said he’d like the funding to come from somewhere other than an additional charge to residents, suggesting that if his fellow commissioners weren’t in favor of taking the money from funds produced from parking fines as previously discussed that the costs be paid for out of ad valorem tax proceeds.
Though commissioners had previously discussed increasing the city’s parking violation fine from $50 to $75 and using the proceeds to pay for the permit parking passes, Mayor Judy Titsworth said after further reflection she didn’t think it was a good idea. Titsworth said that using the monies derived from issuing parking fines implies that Holmes Beach police officers have a quota of parking fines that they need to write to pay for the program.
She also said she doesn’t think the permits should be free to residents because it will cause an influx of permit parking applications that would cause a strain on city staff to process and issue quickly. By charging, she said it allows current staff to be able to handle the applications and she said it’s an added benefit for residents.
While Morton, Schaefer and Soustek all agreed with the mayor’s reasoning, Kihm said he didn’t like charging residents for something that they could previously do for free – park on the street.
How permit parking works
The permits will be available to all Holmes Beach residents and property owners.
Residents living outside the permit parking zone can still park on the street in front of their homes, but will be able to get up to two passes at $15 each to use for street-side beach parking.
Owners of vacation rentals within the permit zone will be able to secure two permits at the $15 rate, but only for their vehicles. Renters will not be able to use the permits.
Residents living inside the permit parking zone who wish to park on the street will be required to have a permit, but the $15 permits are only available for vehicles registered to Holmes Beach addresses. Roommates or visiting children, parents or friends with vehicles registered outside the city will not be eligible for a permit. Those vehicles will have to be parked in designated parking areas on the property, though vehicles with permits can be moved to the street to allow for more parking on the property.
Permits will be required for any vehicle parked on the street in the permit-only zone from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, including low speed vehicles and golf carts that are registered with the state. A regular golf cart, one that doesn’t require registration with the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles, can be parked in the permit zone and does not require a permit.
The permits are expected to be renewable annually.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said with the ordinance approved, he would move to order the new signs for the permit-only zone, located west of the city’s main thoroughfare of Gulf/Marina/Palm/East Bay drives, and get the permit parking program up and running as soon as possible.
Most street parking on the east side of the main thoroughfare remains open, though that could change if public parking becomes a problem in those neighborhoods.
Soustek said she’d like residents to keep in mind that the approved ordinance is still a work in progress and that adjustments to the program and permit-only parking areas may be changed in the future as needed.
