Garage paid parking draws early complaints

A paid parking system has been in place at downtown parking garages for less than a month, but it’s already generating complaints.

On Feb. 15, Helen Abramowicz sent a message to the city’s parking department. She attended the Sarasota Opera the night before and parked in the Palm Avenue garage. The previous week, the city officially began charging users who parked for more than three hours at the Palm Avenue and State Street garages.

The new system had a noticeable effect on Abramowicz’s ability to get out of the garage. She said it took her a half-hour to pay at the pay station on the ground level of the garage, and another 20 minutes to get out.

“All of us were tired and furious,” Abramowicz wrote. “... I did not appreciate this nasty surprise at the end of a fabulous performance.”

City Parking Manager Mark Lyons sent an apology to Abramowicz, calling the delay an unfortunate byproduct of a transition to a new parking system. Lyons explained that the city intends to increase staffing at the garages when a large event is scheduled. He said the Feb. 14 event was not listed on the opera’s website, so the staffing levels did not reflect a need to accommodate a larger group of people during a small window.

Lyons said the city intends to improve the traffic flow by charging users $5 upon entry, rather than asking them to pay upon exit, when large events are scheduled.

“Our staff will begin more stringent review of the opera schedules and respond to the large events so this type of thing does not reoccur, or cause such drastic delays,” Lyons wrote in response to Abramowicz.

Despite the issues with the Feb. 14 opera event, Lyons said public feedback to the new paid parking system has generally been positive. The new system allows users to park for free for three hours. The system charges $3 to park between three and four hours, and an additional dollar for each hour beyond that.

“We’ve had a few people express they weren’t happy with it,” Lyons said. “But most people expressed they understand. We’ve had many say, ‘Well, it’s about time.’”

An adjustment period is to be expected, Lyons said. On Feb. 12, the Sarasota Farmers Market sent out an email regarding the parking fees at the State Street garage. In the email, market Executive Director Phil Pagano said some customers at the Feb. 10 event were concerned about the paid parking system. The market posted signs in front of the garage the following week to make clear that people could still park for free for up to three hours.

“I think that was the confusion on (Feb. 10) and hope everyone continues attending,” Pagano wrote.

Jim Hilliard, who is visiting Sarasota from Cape Cod, Mass., had no issues parking in the State Street garage to attend Saturday’s farmers market. He said he was happy to have a place to park, considering how crowded the on-street parking spaces were.

“It’s here or nowhere,” Hilliard said.

But he did think the overall downtown parking system could be improved. If the garages were free, Hilliard said, it could open up places to park along the street.

In 2016, the city approved a comprehensive parking strategy that advocated for a similar setup. Authored by Lyons, the report recommended free parking in the garages and paid parking for more valuable on-street spaces.

But the City Commission has recently balked at the prospect of installing parking meters along Main Street, causing city staff to search for other options for overcoming a deficit in the parking fund.

For now, then, the garage paid parking is the only pay-to-park system the city is running. Lyons said he hopes residents continue to accept and grow more comfortable using the new system.

“I think, in time, everybody will get accustomed to how things work,” Lyons said.