ST. PETE BEACH — New Mayor Scott Tate asked city staff to develop a parking fee structure based on how long visitors stay rather than time of day, arguing that sunset pricing would discourage diners and shoppers from patronizing local businesses.
Commissioners passed a revised parking fee resolution on a 4-1 vote, adopting most staff recommendations but stripping out the sunset provision at Tate’s urging. Commissioner Lisa Robinson cast the lone dissenting vote. Staff will return in a few weeks with a duration-based fee schedule.
The action came as Tate and newly elected Commissioner Al Causey, both recently seated, put their stamp on a parking overhaul that the previous commission had set in motion.
Assistant City Manager Adam Poirier told commissioners that the city conducted a parking action plan in 2025 with a third-party vendor that evaluated the entire system. The consultant provided several recommendations tied to fee and fine adjustments, he said.
“We put together an a la carte list of fee enhancements where you may be able to gain some revenue and help turnover,” Poirier said. Staff presented the list to the Finance and Budget Review Board, which produced recommendations that went to the previous commission.
The earlier commission approved several changes before Tate and Causey took office: a sunset surcharge adding $1 to parking after 4 p.m., an additional $1 during tourist season from February through April, weekend rates starting Friday instead of Saturday, an increase in the daily holiday rate from $25 to $40, aligning County Park fees with the city’s rates and raising the base rate by 50 cents.
Two ideas from the earlier round were dropped: charging visitors the transaction fee the city pays for use of its parking app and a proposal to hold rates steady from 8 a.m. to noon for morning beachgoers.
Poirier said staff would like to keep the holiday rate through Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day to collect data comparing the flat rate used in 2025 with an hourly rate.
He also noted that parking fees have been removed from the city’s fee ordinance and are now adopted by resolution, giving staff more flexibility. “We can adjust up or down with a simple meeting,” he said, rather than holding two public hearings.
Robinson said she favored including the transaction fee, which she said would be consistent with how other establishments handle the cost.
But Tate steered the discussion in a different direction. He said he spent about six months campaigning door to door and heard a consistent message: Residents want to welcome visitors.
“I’m most particularly interested in the impacts to our small businesses, our restaurants, our entertainment, our shopping areas,” he said.
Tate said he envisions a system in which visitors who come for dinner and a little shopping would pay a modest rate for an hour or two, enough time to patronize local businesses and turn a spot over. Longer stays of three, four or five hours would cost progressively more.
“I think when you’re getting into those durations, you’re getting into the people that are just hanging out on the beach and tying up parking spaces that are so valuable to us — and that our restaurant and business owners want us to turn over more quickly,” Tate said.
He added that sunset pricing would punish diners arriving for an evening meal and asked staff to explore dynamic pricing based on duration of stay instead.
Poirier said the city’s two parking vendors, ParkMobile and Flowbird, are merging under a single company that can accommodate time- or duration-based pricing.
Causey said he agreed with the mayor’s approach.
Robinson noted that the resolution would not affect Corey Avenue, where most of the city’s restaurants are located. Paid parking, she said, applies primarily to the beaches.