Parking issue rises again at Lee County

Commissioner Kevin Ruane addressed the long-debated structured parking plan for Boca Grande during the regular Lee County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

 “On April 22 the commission voted unanimously to authorize me to move forward evaluating the parking situation in Lee County on Gasparilla Island,” Ruane said. “Over two years since then I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of meetings in that regard. We unfortunately had setbacks due to Hurricane Ian, Debby, Milton, Helene, as well as going through some really time-sensitive issues with FEMA making sure we secure the necessary discount that was there.”

On June 3, 2024, the board voted unanimously to work with staff on a draft to implement structured parking. At the Tuesday meeting, Ruane detailed several points he wanted to address.

“The [suggestions] I made in June were certainly to limit the use of Gilchrist Avenue median,” Ruane said. “We don’t park on a median in any other place in Lee County, so there were accommodations made and I’m trying to give the same accommodations to the churches for their services on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. We can give out special permits for weddings and funerals.”

He also addressed tickets and signage. “The second is we need to address the signage and the fines that are obviously there,” Ruane said. “It’s literally a nominal ticket that you pay. So, the ticket isn’t the enforcement tool that we are trying to use to persuade people. That fine certainly is going to need to come up. I’ve worked with the sheriff’s office; we’ll certainly have that in there. When you address Gilchrist Avenue, you look at fines, because Gilchrist Avenue is the feeder. That’s why the fines are necessary. And then they’ll gravitate over to the commercial district and that’s where they’ll park. So, we need to limit the commercial district and we need to make sure we do that in a couple-of-hours situation.”

Ruane also talked about other limits on parking. “Lastly and probably as importantly, we need to try to prohibit and limit parking on East Railroad North and Fifth Street, and those are for safety issues. I just want to make sure the feeder lanes are there.”

Ruane motioned for staff to bring a draft back to be approved by the commissioner, seconded by Commissioner Mike Greenwell.

Brent Cross, President of The Gasparilla Inn, wrote a letter in support of the plan, which was read. It called Boca Grande a “treasured destination known for its pristine environment and welcoming community; however, the increasing volume of vehicles and unregulated parking have led to congestion, major safety issues, challenges for residents, businesses and visitors. The proposed ordinance would help address the issues ensuring that parking is managed efficiently and equitably allowing for a more enjoyable experience for all who visit and live here.”

The commissioners briefly spoke about a zoning variance for ADA parking at the Lighthouse United Methodist church. “I thought it was very unorthodox that a hearing examiner made an exception and not necessarily came through a public hearing and ordinance process. She just made an exception,” Ruane said. “But the exception has two parts to it. You go to public parking first, median second.”

During the public comment period on Tuesday, Kimberly Whipple, who is the senior warden for St. Andrews Episcopal Church, addressed the fact that this item was not on the pre-distributed agenda.

Louis Sarkes, who lives on Railroad Avenue, spoke in favor of a parking plan. “On behalf of the residents in our community I sternly urge you to approve a parking plan that safeguards our delicate environment in Boca Grande,” he said.

Jay Whipple, who lives on Shore Lane also asked the commissioners to include the community in all future plans. “We’ve been parking on Gilchrist forever,” he said. “It’s a very reasonable thing to consider for our community. Applying communitywide standards for a special place like Boca Grande is not necessarily the right thing to do. I would ask that you look more carefully at the other opportunities we have. We have parking spaces that have been removed from the public by private residences, who have parked and built curb lawns on the right of ways. We have about 60 parking places that have been removed from Gilchrist by the residents. We have parking in a parking lot that is supposed to have beach access that hasn’t been up and running in three years. The beachgoers are moving down Gilchrist, just because they can’t get to the beach.” 

Richard Webber, who is a member of the Methodist Church and lives in Boca Bay, encouraged commissioners to pass a parking ordinance. “Off-island traffic has been growing exponentially for the last four or five years,” he said.