Roundup: The parking and beach access issue in Boca Grande and on Gasparilla Island
June 19, 2024
By Garland Pollard
The Boca Beacon has a current guide to parking spaces across the island HERE, with state, local and town parking spots, and a map of public beach access points as of 2025. Currently, Lee County is proposing to effectively shut down beach parking on the island, to just over 200 places. There would be two-hour parking downtown.
Chronology of the parking issue
Below, a list of some stories on the issue, both recent and historical, in addition to official documents relating to parking on the island. News stories are in reverse chronological order:
- April 4, 2025: Boca Grande takes parking discussion to Ft. Myers
- April 1, 2025: Video of Boca Grande Residents Addressing Parking Issue
- March 30, 2025: Details on Proposed Boca Grande Parking Ordinance
- March 28, 2025: Parking Ordinance on April 1 agenda
- March 21, 2025: Parking ordinance delayed after promise for hearing
- March 21, 2025: Newest draft version of parking ordinance
- March 19, 2025: Boca Grande residents, attorneys, speak at Commission meeting (video)
- March 7, 2025: Draft Gasparilla Island Parking Ordinance, dated 2-24-25
- March 4, 2025: Church attorney, residents speak at Lee Commission meeting
- March 1, 2025: Parking for God scheme resolved San Francisco mistrust
- Feb. 21, 2025: Parking issue rises again at Lee County
- Feb. 21, 2025: Churches speak out on parking after meeting
- Feb. 19, 2025: Lee raises parking issue again (video YouTube link)
- Sept. 20, 2024: Lee County wrote its own waiver for Community Center
- July 26, 2024: Parking documents indicate downtown parking areas
- July 19, 2024: Firm two-hour limit in draft parking docs in Public Records request
- July 18, 2024: Q&A on public beach access from UVA professor
- July 12, 2024: Draft parking docs include digital sign board and vendor run ‘lot management’
- July 11, 2024: Merchants hold impromtu meetup on parking
- June 28, 2024: Parking Panel members resign from committee
- June 21, 2024: Tourist guide to public parking on Gasparilla Island
- June 13, 2024: Retailers fear more parking restrictions will drive away customers
- June 7, 2024: Lee Commissioners vote, add last minute discussion of parking changes
- June 7, 2024: Major parking rule changes discussed at Tuesday Lee meeting
- June 4, 2024: Lee County pursues public parking restrictions across Boca Grande (Inside story, link to YouTube video of Lee County Board).
- May 31, 2024: Officials consider new regulations on town parking
- April 25, 2024: Churches send unified message on need for daytime parking
- April 25, 2024: Timeline of parking discussions in Boca Grande
- Feb. 15, 2024: Fifth Street beach access remains closed
- Nov. 17, 2023: Parking Panel to meet again with Ruane
- Sept. 22, 2023: County says Fifth Street beach access closed as a precaution
- Oct. 26, 2023: Meeting between Ruane and Parking Panel scheduled for November 2
- Oct. 19, 2023: Gilchrist parking is back, Parking Panel attends Lee Commissioners October meeting
- April 19, 2019: Lee County updates parking ordinances
- Oct. 28, 2018: Lee County Commissioners uphold parking on the median
- March 23, 2018: Parallel parking mandated on beach access streets
- March 10, 2017: New signage proposed on beach access parking
- Dec. 16, 2016: GICIA assists with palm tree planting on Gilchrist Avenue
- Dec. 2, 2016: New Gilchrist plantings ahead of schedule
- Oct. 28, 2016: Lee Commissioners strike Gilchrist from agenda
- March 16, 2016: Advisory board meeting at Community Center
- Dec. 4, 2015: A Gilchrist Avenue parking timeline, 2003-2015
- July 24, 2015: GICIA advisory board formed to investigate ordinance revision
- April 24, 2015: Gilchrist Neighborhood Association stance on Gilchrist parking
- April 10, 2015: Parking prohibited on two southern-most median strips by GICIA
Official Documents
- Lee County Parking Ordinance
- Lee County Plan (as amended through May 2024)
- Boca Grande Community Plan (Sept. 30, 2004)
- Waiver for Boca Grande Community Center (July 12, 2024)
Public Records Requests Documents
- 2025 Draft Ordinance (unadopted and circulated, but not official)
- Administrative Code 11-9 (an unadopted draft code, referenced in our July 19, 2024 story)
- Draft ordinance (a proposed update of a parking ordinance, referenced in our July 26 story)
- Parking Panel resignation letter (June 28, 2024)
- 2024 position letter from The Gasparilla Inn; May 14 memo regarding drafting of plan from The Gasparilla Inn
- April 2024 letter to Lee County from The Gasparilla Inn
Position Letters
- 2025 Letter from The Gasparilla Inn to Commissioner Ruane
- 2024 Three Churches letter to Lee County regarding parking
- 2023 position letter from the Boca Grande Chamber of Commerce
Boca Beacon Editorials
- Off to see the Wizard: Boca Grande goes to the Lee Commission, April 4, 2025
- Welcome to the island that does not seem to be welcoming, March 21, 2025
- The Gilchrist Potato Sticks, and other visual snacks, March 7, 2025
- Parking passes needed for a sunset, Feb. 21, 2025
- Questions before a possible October Surprise, Sept. 20, 2024
- Where are the $igns to our $leepy little town?, July 12, 2024
- Inventory of island parking needed, July 5, 2024
- Let’s start by curbing the ‘curb lawns’ in Boca Grande, June 21, 2024
- Quiet Gilchrist, overflowing Gasparilla Island State Park, June 13, 2024
- The issue of parking raised again, June 6, 2024
- Take down the fence on Fifth Street, May 30, 2024
- Parking subterfuge and precedents, Oct. 19, 2023
- Parking passes needed, for a sunset?, Feb. 21, 2025
State & Federal Resources
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection map of officially defined state public access points. Also included are amenities for each access point, parking and ownership.
- Justice Department, Place to Worship Initiative
Community Comment: A sampling of letters to the editor
- Taking the Christ out of Gilchrist: Churches respond to Gilchrist concerns, March 28, 2025
- Input not sought from island businesses, Duane Zobrist, Gasparilla Adventures, March 13, 2025
- Need for a parking plan, Feb. 28, 2025
- Parking meters would destroy character of Boca Grande, Sept. 20, 2024
- Boca Grande church access not just about Sunday mornings, July 8, 2024
- Families need access to beaches, June 21, 2024
- Questions on Boca Grande town residents and parking, June 14, 2024
- Regional development and demand for parking, Oct. 26, 2023
- Turning into Coney Island? Oct. 26, 2023
- Why does the county allow Curb Lawns to occur? June 3, 2016
Florida and regional beach parking
- Sarasota, Ft. Myers relax parking restrictions, Jun 21, 2024
Cleanups, beach renourishment & restoration
- Bids out on Gasparilla Island State Park renourishment, June 21, 2024
- Army Corps, Lee County agree on beach renourishment pact, May 19, 2022
