More paid beach parking could be coming to St. Pete Beach

The sprawling Dolphin Village parking lot along Gulf Boulevard could soon start doing double duty as paid beach parking.

Metropolis is seeking approval to turn about 100 surplus spaces at the St. Pete Beach shopping center into public commercial parking. The proposed area sits in the large surface lot near Chick-fil-A, and across Gulf Boulevard from the beach.

It is a familiar piece of asphalt for anyone who regularly drives St. Pete Beach. Dolphin Village is the Publix-anchored center at 4655 Gulf Blvd., home to Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s, The UPS Store and other businesses.

The lot has drawn even more attention since the May 2025 fire that tore through the CVS portion of Dolphin Village and spread through the building’s façade toward neighboring businesses. Publix and other stores in that section of the plaza closed after the fire, and the grocery store has not reopened.

Now, while plans move forward for a rebuilt Publix, the property owner is looking to put some of that excess parking to use.

The St. Pete Beach Technical Review Committee reviewed the proposal Wednesday and cleared it to move to the city manager for final approval. Senior Planner Brandon Berry told the Catalyst afterward that City Manager Frances Robustelli has the final administrative say.

The request does not call for construction of a new lot. Instead, Metropolis wants to use spaces Dolphin Village already has beyond what its current tenants are required to provide.

An aerial view of Dolphin Village in St. Pete Beach shows the large surface parking lot along Gulf Boulevard. A proposal would convert about 100 surplus spaces at the shopping center into paid public parking. Image: Google Earth.

City staff calculated that roughly 385 spaces would remain after setting aside the proposed paid area. Existing uses require about 254 spaces, not counting parking associated with commercial charter vessels, leaving a surplus of roughly 130 spaces.

Metropolis representative Dave Hutchinson said the company is mainly targeting beachgoers on busy weekends and holidays. “They’re really looking just to catch a lot of overflow parking,” Hutchinson said during the review. 

The lot would be available seven days a week, though the company expects weekends and holidays to drive most of the business. Drivers would pay through signs equipped with QR codes rather than a staffed entrance booth.

The site plan shows most of the paid spaces grouped in the central portion of the Dolphin Village lot, with additional spaces along the Gulf Boulevard frontage.

City staff spent much of Wednesday’s review working through how the paid spaces would be separated from parking reserved for Dolphin Village customers. Berry asked Metropolis to provide a clearer signage plan and make sure drivers can easily tell where paid parking begins and ends.

In a lot that still serves dozens of businesses, that distinction matters. Staff noted that some proposed spaces sit along aisles where one side could be paid parking while the other remains regular shopping-center parking.

The company also plans to have enforcement staff on site for about three to four hours per day, with more coverage during peak periods such as Saturdays. Its written enforcement plan calls for attendants to scan license plates with handheld devices and issue violation notices when parking has not been paid.

Overnight parking would not be allowed. City Attorney Ralf Brookes also suggested conditions prohibiting tailgating, barbecuing, RVs, campers and trailers.

The proposal comes as Dolphin Village itself prepares for a much larger change.

Brixmor has been working with St. Pete Beach on plans to rebuild Publix at the property. City officials have said the redevelopment would include a larger store and changes to the site’s parking and circulation.

Berry said during Wednesday’s meeting that plans the city has reviewed include changes on the north side of the property and parking beneath the future Publix. Those plans could eventually eat into the surplus that makes the paid parking proposal possible today.

City staff made that concern explicit in its review. The current surface lot would not have enough parking to support the Publix redevelopment and the 100-space public parking operation simultaneously without some other parking arrangement.

For now, the spaces are there, and the city is considering allowing them to serve the beach crowd until redevelopment changes the equation.

Brookes said the arrangement may have to shift once construction begins.

“When we do the reconstruction of the Publix, if they need this area for staging, I guess that would be addressed between the landowner and the applicant about the timing and relocation if they have to,” he said.