Downtown Paid Parking Goes Live Again Oct. 3

Starting Monday, Oct. 3 paid parking is coming back to downtown Sarasota. The meters and pay stations have been while the city came up with a new parking plan after complaints from downtown merchants who said that paid parking was dramatically hurting business.

Paid parking will be from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Monday - Saturday, excluding holidays. A total of six free 15-minute parking spaces were added to the 1300-1500 blocks of Main Street, as well.

Some of the changes from when meters first went live in May include seasonal rates and meter locations. During 'season', from November through April, pay stations and parking meters will be $1 per hour. From May through October, they will be $0.50 an hour.

During the past several weeks, meters were removed from State Street, 1300 and 1500 blocks of First Street, Cocoanut Avenue and Gulfstream Avenue and installed adjacent to the Judicial Center on Main Street and Ringling Boulevard, east of U.S. 301, as well as Adams Lane and East Street.

Downtown parking garages will be $0.50 per hour. Palm Avenue parking garage will remain free through October.

"I feel really great about this," said Mayor Suzanne Atwell at a July commission meeting. "We have tweaked this so it will meet the needs of the city and the merchants."

For a detailed map of the parking plan, click on the photo at the top right of the story.

How we got here

The in January. They saw it as a necessary usage fee and thought it would help increase turnover at businesses. Once the new commission was seated in May, however, .

Vice Mayor Terry Turner was the most vocal against the meters, wanting to remove them completely. "I think it’s not too late to stop them,” Turner said.

The commission, however, voted for the meters at the suggestion of city staff who said the $500,000 meters were already purchased and installed.

On May 23 the meters went live. The city had parking ambassadors to help the public work the new machines. Soon after instillation, however, downtown streets became increasingly empty and city hall filled up with angry downtown merchants.

The downtwon business owners, including owner Forrest Shaw, said they had seen a significant decrease in business due to the meters.

"There are some positives to paid parking," Shaw told commissioners over the summer. "[However,] when we implemented the dollar parking, it sucked the life out of downtown."

The main reason the parking was not working over the summer; the plan was . After much discussion the commission on July 5.

Two weeks later the downtown merchants presented a plan to city commissioners that would establish seasonal rates, 15-minute free spaces and location changes. , 4-1, and decided to move paid parking from many downtown streets to areas adjacent to the judicial center.

"I don’t care if we discourage people from going to the judicial center," Turner said. "I worry about discouraging people from downtown businesses. I’d move as many as we could the judicial center."

Quick Hits

• Parking ambassadors, wearing bright green shirts with a large ‘P’, will be on visible throughout downtown, starting next week, to answer questions about the meters
• Disabled parkers with a valid disabled parking license plate or placard are not required to pay on-street parking rates. 
• The pay stations are solar powered; they accept coins as well as Visa and Master Card. Receipts are not printed.
• Parking Permits are available for downtown parking garages
  • The cost breakdown will be $20 per month for one year
  • $25 per month for six months
  • $30 per month for three months
  • $40 for one month
• Permits can be purchased at the Parking Division located in the , 2099 Adams Lane.