ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – More than a hundred residents and concerned business owners showed up at a meeting held Wednesday night about a proposal that would cut street parking in the nation's oldest city.
Downtown St. Augustine has been plagued with traffic troubles for years, and city leaders want to look into ways to address what they're calling a mobility issues along San Marco Avenue.
As the meeting heated up, one business owner told News4Jax that the city might as well buy her out if the parking changes move forward, saying at least that would be fair unlike taking away the free parking that attracts her customers in the first place.
"Taking away the one thing that brings customers to San Marco -- free parking in front of the stores -- is like a death sentence for every single one of our businesses," said Aimee Banion, the owner of High Tide Gallery on San Marco Avenue.
Banion is one of multiple business owners who are fighting against the city's proposal to remove some on-street parking in the area.
The plan calls for increasing off-street parking, creating several city enforced paid parking lots and placing parking signage along San Marco Avenue.
The city is looking at four models, all of which would remove some on-street parking. One proposal that business owners said they're most concerned about would remove 17 free parking spots to add bike lanes and shuttle lanes on San Marco Avenue. Another plan would add meters to those spaces.
"From my point of view for the business people, we need as much parking as we can possibly get," said Bill Ferrigno, the owner of A Step Back In Time on San Marco Avenue. "Right now, they are taking 90 percent of it away."
Ahead of the meeting, Ferrigno told New4Jax that parking is a constant battle already.
“All the effected neighborhoods that border San Marco neighborhood east and west, they have a very large parking problem," Ferrigno said. "Also, every time St. Augustine has an event, you can't drive up and down those streets. The cars just pile in, take everybody's parking spaces. It's a mess."
Ultimately, the only plan that many business owners want to see is one that includes free parking for their customers.
"One hundred percent of our customers, all of our business, have heard this is big. They have said, 'If we don't have parking in front of our front doors, we're not going to come," Banion said. "That's harsh."
Business owners also told News4Jax that their merchant association would like a status quo. They said they don't want anything changed other than a few spaces being moved, but they would be OK with metered parking in front of their stores.
There will be a public meeting on the proposed parking changes on June 21 and then a commission meeting on June 26. A final decision is expected to be made no later than July 10.