While the main village of Boca Grande lies entirely in Lee County, the island\u2019s northern portion is in Charlotte County, and the southern two-thirds are in Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lee County established several types of parking permits for nonresidents, including those for workers, employees, hotel and rental guests and long-term residential visitors. Those without a permit are limited to three hours of parking. Violators face fines of up to $200 for parking infractions and $500 for blocking driveways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commissioner Joe Tiseo, who recently visited Boca Grande, criticized the proliferation of signage related to the restrictions, describing them as \u201cgodawful signs\u201d and calling the situation \u201csign pollution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tiseo said he had no trouble finding parking but noted it is not yet tourist season, when demand typically increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6902512b4eb20.image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Charlotte County commissioners meet Oct. 28 to address complaints over Boca Grande\u2019s parking restrictions. The board voted to initiate an intergovernmental conflict resolution process with Lee County.<\/p>\n
Charlotte County government<\/p>\n
Resident Cheryl Webster called Lee County\u2019s ordinance \u201cdraconian,\u201d saying it was driven by \u201cexclusion\u201d and influenced by \u201cseveral very rich residents.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Robin Wilkins, of the Gasparilla Beach Access Coalition, claimed the restrictions violate the Americans with Disabilities Act as it applies to accessible parking, as well as guidelines tied to state beach restoration funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For decades, Charlotte County residents have frequented Boca Grande\u2019s shops, restaurants and beaches. Some business owners also live off the island, including Bart DeStefano and Marco Meola, co-owners of South Beach Bar and Grille. Both urged commissioners to challenge Lee County\u2019s ordinance, echoing sentiments they\u2019ve shared at prior meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeStefano said the residents who spoke \u201chave a greater grasp on the situation than the BOCC.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After hearing from residents, the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners addressed the issue directly. Commissioner Chris Constance made a motion to file an injunction against Lee County, which Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch seconded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, County Attorney Janette Knowlton advised that before pursuing a lawsuit, Charlotte County must follow Florida\u2019s Governmental Resolution Conflict Act. The process begins with a conflict assessment meeting between commissioners from both counties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6902512b4e2f3.image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Charlotte County Commissioner Joe Tiseo speaks during the Oct. 28 board meeting in Murdock. Commissioners agreed to begin legal steps against Lee County over Boca Grande\u2019s parking restrictions for nonresidents.<\/p>\n
Charlotte County government<\/p>\n
Tiseo volunteered to represent Charlotte County at that meeting, and the board may also appoint a facilitator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knowlton said she will draft a resolution stating that the board intends to proceed under Florida Statute Chapter 164, which governs intergovernmental disputes. During the upcoming meeting \u2014 expected later this year \u2014 Charlotte County will present its concerns with Lee County\u2019s parking ordinance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If the conflict assessment meeting fails to resolve the issue, state law requires a joint public meeting between both county commissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that doesn\u2019t resolve, then you go to your lawsuit,\u201d Knowlton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tiseo noted there have been conflicting accounts of how the parking restrictions began. During a recent discussion with Lee County officials, Lee Commissioner Brian Hamman said the ordinance developed \u201corganically\u201d within Boca Grande, while Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass later said an attorney initiated the effort on behalf of a client, Tiseo recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlotte County commissioners on Oct. 28 took the first step toward suing Lee County over its parking restrictions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[21038,209,211,210,853,833,356,21039],"class_list":{"0":"post-28237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cape-coral","8":"tag-boca-grande","9":"tag-cape-coral","10":"tag-cape-coral-headlines","11":"tag-cape-coral-news","12":"tag-charlotte-county","13":"tag-lawsuit","14":"tag-lee-county","15":"tag-parking-restrictions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}