Charlotte County is asking its neighbor to the south to change the recently passed regulations on Boca Grande parking.
The new rules require a permit to park in designated residential and non-residential zones for more than three hours. It also allows fines and towing of vehicles that don't have permits, or remain parked past the allotted time.
"It just isn't right," Charlotte County Commissioner Ken Doherty said in a meeting this week. "It's ridiculous."
Lee County Commissioners approved the new parking ordinance in early August. The vote was unanimous after commissioners heard from Boca Grande residents who complained about too many people parking on side streets while visiting the public beaches. Residents said the visitors dumped trash on the island and sometimes made a lot of noise.
Now Charlotte County Commissioners have passed a resolution, asking Lee to reconsider the Boca Grande ordinance and engage in talks to restore reasonable public parking in the island community.
Boca Grande, at the south end of Gasparilla Island, is part of Lee County. But many Charlotte County residents and visitors like to go to Boca Grande for its beaches as well as its restaurants and shops.
Several Charlotte residents spoke at a recent commission meeting.
"People are going to go somewhere else and not come to our county," Shannon Gallant of Placida said. "You can't go to the beach because you can't park. That is going to hurt our sales taxes, and possibly even home sales in the future."
Other speakers at the meeting blamed a handful of unnamed Boca Grande homeowners for pushing through the Lee County ordinance. Some speakers supported the idea of a weekend caravan protest on Boca Grande. They said it would involve hundreds of cars just driving in circles around the town, tying up traffic and discouraging people from visiting shops and restaurants. It's not clear whether such a protest will happen.
Lee County Commissioners passed the new parking rules just over a month ago. The vote came after a number of Boca Grande residents described the problems caused by so many visitors and vehicles coming to the small community. Some described the parking situation as untenable and in dire need of regulations.
WGCU News asked Lee County government for a statement or reaction to the resolution passed by Charlotte commissioners. The Lee communications director responded that there is no statement on the resolution itself. However she noted the need for regulation was discussed at length at the Lee commission meeting on June 17 of this year. At that meeting Lee Commission Chairman Kevin Ruane said that at least 1,000 residents on the island had signed a document supporting a structured parking system. Community leaders who collected the signatures of support confirmed that number. Those people also said that a parking system is necessary to ease traffic congestion and preserve the Old Florida charm of Boca Grande.
Boca residents made similar statements at a public hearing on the proposed ordinance on August 5. After that hearing Lee commissioners voted in favor of the new parking regulations.
Mike Walcher is a reporter with WGCU News. He also teaches Journalism at Florida Gulf Coast University.