Lakeland's parking to stay free for now, LDDA director says, as meters raise concern

LAKELAND — The future of downtown Lakeland's free on-street parking spaces is raising concerns among downtown business owners.

Julie Townsend, executive director of the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority, said on-street parking will continue to be free for up to two hours a day into the immediate future. She said city staff is considering changing that between 2025 and 2026.

Townsend, appearing before Lakeland commissioners on Monday morning, said the city's proposed parking plan has raised a great deal of concern from downtown restaurateurs and retail shop owners alike.

"The parking study confirmed what we already knew for a long, long time that we have parking constraints at peak parking times," she said. "How do we address the parking constraints but still not make it punitive to the public to come downtown? That is a really, really difficult thing to accomplish."

Tess Schwartz, Lakeland's traffic operations manager, presented a proposal for a new downtown parking-management plan to Lakeland commissioners on Feb. 5. Part of her proposed plan included implementing a $2-an-hour charge for prime, on-street parking spaces, in an effort to get increased turnover in those spots.

"We haven't decided anything yet, nothing comes forward to be voted on. We are still taking this information in," Commissioner Mike Musick said.

Currently, downtown visitors can park their vehicles in an on-street spot for up to two hours once per day, with no re-parking. The driver can leave their vehicle in the same space for an additional two hours, paying $1 per hour, to stay parked for up to four hours.

"Education, as we move forward, is going to be key. I will admit I don't think the LDDA has done the best job of helping the city communicate the parking rules," Townsend said. "Trying to preserve the on-street, two-hour parking for free and shifting to a paid system is very difficult to communicate."

Several business owners have raised concerns to Lakeland commissioners about proposed changes to downtown parking.

"We have seen the backlash you are experiencing, people being frustrated and confused," Commissioner Stephanie Madden said.

Madden said she spoke with Chef Marcos Fernandez of Nineteen61 prior to Friday's agenda study about how potential changes to downtown parking could impact his customers and staff.

Lakeland resident Kate Martinez, owner of My Office & More, said she was concerned about the proposal to increase the city's parking revenue by raising the cost of the monthly permits.

"I am asking that we all look very closely at taking permits from $35 a month to $80 a month in one shot, this particularly in a time of high inflation," she said.

Martinez said she recognized the current rate of $35 a month permit is too low. The Feb. 5 proposal would eliminate rate difference between covered and uncovered spots, moving all permits allowed by contract to $80 this fiscal year and up to $90 a month for fiscal year 2025.

"I'm concerned more than doubling the rate could cause unintended consequences and move people out of lots and onto streets," she said. "I also believe that the downtown businesses, mine included, we need to take more responsibility to improve parking availability downtown."

Commissioner Sarah Roberts McCarley reiterated Musick's message that nothing has been decided yet on downtown parking.

"I appreciate your clarity to the public that nothing has been done yet, the policies have not been changed yet," she said. "This is a continuing dialogue. We want to hear from residents, which we have, and businesses, which we have."

Townsend will hold a meeting at 8 a.m. Tuesday at My Office & More, 122 E. Main St., for downtown businesses to voice their opinions, address their concerns and come up with other possible downtown parking alternatives.

"I will work with the businesses to come up with some things they find palatable and bring that back to parking staff, and hopefully we can move forward in a positive way," she said.

Townsend said one idea she's proposed is if city staff want to consider metered on-street parking, perhaps there could be a flip, where downtown garages — like the Main Street Garage, which has been open to public parking daily since December — could allow drivers to park for the first two hours free.

Currently, the garages are $1 per hour Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's unlimited free parking on evenings and weekends.

McCarley said she feels its important for the city to acknowledge that downtown walkability, pedestrian-friendly streets and options like The Squeeze's microtransit will be important to addressing parking issues.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Future of Lakeland's downtown parking raises concern from businesses