HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Old Seminole Heights has dramatically changed since Doug Jesseph moved there 15 years ago.
Nowadays, there’s a decent music scene and a plethora of great restaurants and bars — many of them new — on N. Florida Avenue, which is a block from his house.
“It’s the best neighborhood that I’ve ever lived in,” he said. “A lot of good things are happening.”
However, with the growth has come a struggle over parking.
“People are parking in ways — I mean, they’re blocking fire hydrants,” Jesseph said. “They’re blocking other people’s driveways.”
Jesseph lives on North Suwanee Avenue, one block east of North Florida Avenue.
For years, restaurant customers and employees have parked along Suwanee and clogged both sides of the street.
According to the City of Tampa, the problem was so bad; an emergency vehicle had to cut through a front yard a few weeks ago.
“It’s a demand-driven thing,” Jesseph said. “It depends on when the restaurants are really busy — the bars are really busy. Those are the worst times.”
Now, a change has been implemented. Days ago, the city put up “no parking” signs on half of North Suwanee.
“The signs were requested by the residents due to overflow of parking from businesses in the area,” Adam Smith, a spokesperson for the city, wrote in an email to ABC Action News. “The No Parking restriction is only on one side of the street to allow vehicles to get through.”
Jesseph and other neighbors say the new restriction has improved the crowding of parked cars on Suwanee.
“So far as I can see, it’s a net improvement over what we had,” he said.
However, he and others pointed out that the fix is not perfect.
For one, some people who live in North Suwanee need street parking since their homes don’t have driveways. Now, there’s much less street parking to share between them and the businesses.
“Parking is really at a premium,” Jesseph said.
As for the businesses, they have concerns too.
One business person, who spoke on anonymity, said the shrinking parking supply could discourage more investment here and make parking difficult for both customers and employees.
Ultimately, neighborhood leaders hope the city will keep looking for better solutions to the parking problems in this neighborhood.
