Downtown Lakeland business owners concerned about idea to eliminate free parking

LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — It may not be the case everywhere, but in downtown Lakeland, visitors can park for free for two hours if they find a spot on the street.

“You can get a bite to eat. You can do a little bit of shopping then you can head out and be on your way,” said Nikki Hunt, owner of Scout and Tag, a store downtown.

She says two-hour, free, on-street parking gives her customers better access to her store.

“Coming downtown typically has challenges because of just finding places to park but then finding a place to park and paying for it can potentially devastate a downtown business and just the downtown economy,” she said.

She attended a meeting Tuesday morning with nearly two dozen other business owners and the head of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority to discuss an idea to eliminate the free option and instead charge people up to $2 an hour to park on the street.

“I think anytime there’s free parking, it benefits all the businesses. I think it makes it more welcoming for people to come down,” said Jack McHugh, general manager at Molly McHugh’s Irish Pub, who also attended the meeting.

Tim Calhoon, whose wife owns the restaurant Frescos, said free parking helps businesses while acknowledging that Lakeland is one of few cities that offers free parking in its downtown.

“For me, it doesn’t bother me that much but I think people that aren’t used to paying for it, might have a little bit of a problem with it at first,” he said.

The idea to start charging for on-street parking was mentioned at a recent city workshop about parking downtown.

A study by Kimley-Horn found on-street parking was over capacity during peak times while off-street parking, presumably in lots and garages, was under capacity.

The official who recommended the $2/hour change said paid parking might incentivize people to turn over their spot quicker.

“It’s not a large amount of our revenue. It’s really more about behavior change than it is about making money,” said Tess Schwartz, Lakeland’s traffic operations manager.

Of the 8,595 total parking spaces, 662 of them are on-street, according to the study.

Now, the on-street spots are free for two hours and then $1/hour for two more hours.

The city offers unlimited $1/hour parking in garages, including in the Main Street garage.

“Anytime you have a supply and demand issue you’re going to look at ways of solving that. There are lots of ways to look at solving that. Obviously increasing the price for a product that is in high demand is one of those ways,” said Julie Townsend, executive director of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority.

The city commission has not voted on the recommendation and there is no plan to schedule a vote.

“To put the public’s mind at ease, the on-street parking experience in terms of how you pay and how long you get for free is not changing in downtown Lakeland,” said Townsend.

Meanwhile, the city is implementing new signage for its parking garages and open lots where people can pick up the free shuttle service, the Squeeze.

According to Lakeland City Commissioner Stephanie Madden, the city signed off this week on signalization to let downtown guests know how many spaces are available in the Heritage Parking Garage and Main Street Garage.

“Only after these improvements are incorporated will we consider the advice from the parking study regarding on street parking prices and increments,” she said in a statement.

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