BOCA GRANDE, Fla. — On Tuesday, Lee County Commissioners will consider a controversial ordinance that would eliminate public parking at several county beach access points in Boca Grande, as well as impose a time limit on parking in downtown
The ordinance would remove public parking from 1st to 19th Street and restrict downtown parking to just two hours without a special permit. Those permits allow parking for residents and their guests, hotel guests and island employees
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on the proposed ordinance:
The ordinance would also restrict parking on the Gilchrist Avenue median to special events like church services.
Gary Cross, the executive director of the Boca Grande Chamber of Commerce, told Fox 4 those changes could impact how many customers are able to patronize the town’s businesses.
"We put extreme value on all the parking spots that are within walking distance of the business district downtown," said Cross. "Eliminating those spots where people can potentially come and go to the beach and then visit downtown would affect the businesses drastically in our off seasons and somewhat even during season."
He said he has surveyed more than 2,000 island visitors, and found that 75% of people who responded park at county beach access points and 87% shop downtown. Cross noted that many visitors come from nearby Charlotte County communities including Rotunda, Placida, and Cape Haze.
With public parking potentially limited to the south area of the island, South Beach Bar owners Marco Meola and Bart Destefano are concerned about the impact on their business.
"I'm looking at this as an existential threat to us, because parking is limited to start with, what's going to happen is all the people that were gonna go to the beach where they could park further up on the island are gonna come here," Bart Destefano said.
The county says the proposed ordinance is in response to “the attraction of Gasparilla's serene environment and beautiful beaches has resulted in an inordinate influx of tourists, visitors, and daytime sightseers,” whose parking habits are “inconsistent with [the island’s] character and have resulted in negative impacts to the County's residents and taxpayers.”
The county says the ordinance aims to reduce hazardous traffic conditions caused by vehicle and golf cart parking on busy roads and medians, while protecting neighborhoods from excessive noise, trash, and disruption.
But Meola and Destafano see it differently.
"To think that it's not going to affect us, and it's not going to deter people from Cape Haze or Englewood from coming down, I think is very naive," Meola said.
“They’re trying to exclude people from coming on the island,” Destefano added.
More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition opposing the ordinance. Several community members plan to speak against the proposal when it's discussed at the Lee County Commission meeting on August 5, at 9:30 a.m.
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