Parking documents indicate downtown parking areas
Editor’s Note: In recent weeks, the Boca Beacon has been releasing documents from a Public Records Request from Lee County. These are not new documents, but merely draft discussion points and documents relating to parking on Gasparilla Island from officials in Lee County. All documents and reporting are online at bocabeacon.com/parking.
A draft code change from Lee County, circulated on Monday, May 6, 2024, would update the definition of “Downtown Boca Grande,” and differentiate between public beach parking and general public parking.
The draft ordinance modifications were revealed in a Public Records Law document request from Lee County, which the Boca Beacon received this month. The changes are to the already existing “Gasparilla Island Parking Ordinance.”
The changes, marked in red, specify the addition of a definition for Downtown Boca Grande which would correspond with the attached map, “Exhibit A.” The map includes a highlighted note below it that says that it requires updating to depict downtown as proposed by Section 28-158. The map listed does not yet clearly define what the “certain properties” are on side streets.
The proposed addition to this section reads:
“Downtown Boca Grande means the area on Gasparilla Island within Lee County as shown on Exhibit ‘A’, consisting of certain properties generally bounded by 5th Street to north and 3rd Street to the south, with frontage on Park Avenue, West Railroad Avenue, and East Railroad Avenue.”
The entirety of this area is also zoned as commercial in the Lee County zoning map; however, there are several properties on Gasparilla Island that are also zoned commercial, but not within the confines of Downtown Boca Grande as described in the proposed definition.
The other major modification to the ordinance is to the areas for public parking section (28-162), which adds “Areas for other public parking” as a separate section from “Areas for public beach parking.” The other parking areas are listed as follows:
“Areas for other public parking. The following areas shall continue to provide the opportunity for public parking on Gasparilla Island:
• On-street parking within the rights-of-way of Downtown Boca Grande;
• The Gilchrist Avenue median between 5th Street and 3rd Street, subject to the requirements and restrictions established in Lee County Administrative Code AC-11-9.
In a separate document circulated by staff as part of a draft proposal, also on May 6, these changes are referred to as a Parking Ordinance/Administrative Code Amendment. The action item for the items are to: “develop draft amendments for Board direction/approval and Public Hearing(s).”
The changes in the Lee County Administrative Code AC-11-9, which is a companion document relating to parking fees, were revealed in the July 19, 2024 issue of the Beacon. That document is available at bocabeacon.com/parking.
Bottom left, a map of Gasparilla Island showing areas where parking is not permitted, according to a draft ordinance that has not been formally released. The map has not been updated with downtown changes, and so has previous markings. Lee County Public Records Request
Bottom right, a Florida state map of public beach access points for the Lee County part of Gasparilla Island from a screen capture 7-24-2024. The black dots show where there is full access with parking. Yellow dots are public access points. This database is maintained by the state at ca.dep.state.fl.us/
