SARASOTA, Fla. — A group of more than 20 downtown Sarasota business owners are threatening to sue the city if free parking is not restored.
Since 2019, the city has charged for parking along Main Street and Palm Avenue in downtown. But now the owners of 21 galleries, clothing stores, and other businesses have signed a petition demanding the free parking be reinstated.
“Day-to-day customers feel rushed when they come into the store,” Pascale Taradoux said.
Taradoux is the event coordinator and lead florist at Uprooted Rose. The flower shop’s owner was among those who signed the petition.
The petition alleges that customers have not adapted to the parking meters. Those meters allow customers to pay with a credit card at one of numerous pay stations, through the Park Mobile app, or by text.
“All of sudden, they look at their time, and they’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh. I have to put money. In the meter,” Taradoux said.
City of Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert was surprised by the timing of the petition, saying there have been complaints since the program more than five years ago.
“For the most part, it’s been working really well,” Alpert said.
The petition also cites construction workers take up the majority of parking along Palm Avenue that the mayor believes it is the real problem.
It is an ongoing problem, and not just on Palm Avenue. The city has similar problems on Golden Gate Point, with construction workers taking up the limited public parking.
“So, we’ve been trying to work with the contractors to try and get them to shuttle in their workers so they’re not taking up all the parking spaces,” Alpert said.
Before the city implemented its paid parking program, taxpayers were contributing to the Parking Division’s annual deficit—about $600,000.
Taxpayers paid about $600,000 to make up the deficit for the parking division prior to the program being implemented
“That means that people that aren’t using the parking are paying,” she said. “So, this way, people that are using the parking are the ones that pay for the space.”
A paid parking program also helps ensure turnover so that businesses get the traffic they need to thrive.
“Parking isn’t free,” Alpert added. “People think these spaces are free, but they’re not.”
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