Guide questions effect of possible Gasparilla parking ordinance

A new parking ordinance restricting off island visits will challenge day fishing and guides here on the island, particularly with a two-hour limit downtown and new restrictions across the island.

“The Boca Grande Fishing Guides Association was founded to improve the facilities and natural environment available to fishermen,” said Capt. Christopher Taylor, the group’s president. “Most of our charters are three hours and up,” said Taylor.

Taylor said that not all their customers are coming down to stay the night. “This may be good for some. This is going to have a negative impact on others, including local businesses and fishermen that draw a lot of visitors to the area.”

He said that the Guide Docks at Bayou Avenue and 5th Street have been a necessary pickup, but there is limited parking. In the parking draft of June 2, the latest version, that area is slated, like the rest of downtown, to be a “non-residential zone” which would have a two-hour parking limit.

“We rely on what we have, and it is limited as it is for people to come to fish,” said Taylor. “So you are going to cut that down?”

The attraction for fishing trips to Boca Grande is not just fishing. Part of the appeal of the guide trips are the other aspects of town, including local restaurants, and staying at The Gasparilla Inn and Innlet.

“Sometimes the guys want to go fishing and their girls want to go to the beach,” said Taylor. “The people that are going to hurt the most are the people who come for the day.” The worry over parking, and what would now be a $200 ticket or towing, will not help.

“This is going to bring a lot of hard feelings,” said Taylor. “Businesses and customers are going to be ticketed. We don’t need people worrying, ‘“If I go, do I get a ticket?”’