INDIAN ROCKS BEACH \u2014 For years, Indian Rocks Beach has held the distinction of being the only Pinellas County beach community that didn\u2019t charge for visitor parking, making it a magnet for frugal beachgoers.<\/p>\n
But with officials agreeing to implement a paid parking pilot program in 2026, the free ride is set to end soon.<\/p>\n
After reigniting discussions of what\u2019s long been a hot button topic on the tiny barrier island last summer, the talks stalled over the last year while the community recovered from the 2024 hurricane season as well as the loss of several key City Hall employees this year, including longtime City Manager Gregg Mims.<\/p>\n
But during the Dec.9 City Commission meeting, the board agreed with new City Manager Ryan Henderson\u2019s idea to implement a pilot paid parking program at the city\u2019s beach access sites to help kickstart the process.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter reviewing everything, my impression is this is something the community wants to move forward with,\u201d said Henderson, who was sworn into office on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is how to implement it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After another lengthy discussion that featured quite a bit of resident commentary, the five commissioners directed Henderson to move forward with the pilot program as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes sense to me, because implementing it in the entire city is a much bigger undertaking,\u201d Mayor Denise Houseberg said of the idea to start small and then spread out. \u201cThe beach access is the most abused. People park and stay there for 11 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henderson, the former city manager of Anna, Texas, who was selected to replace Mims, said he was recommending they pilot the program starting with the 182 beach access spots for six months and then make necessary adjustments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe piloting allows us to implement it, get it going, and then make any applicable changes,\u201d he said, adding the move to charge for parking is \u201ca big decision to consider,\u201d and the program would serve as a trial balloon.<\/p>\n
In running through a presentation, Henderson proposed they charge $4.50 an hour to align with the county\u2019s maximum rate, utilize the ParkMobile online app as the only means of payment, and he recommended 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. as the hours of enforcement.<\/p>\n
Henderson also noted the pilot program would allow officials to collect data, assess the revenue collected, and monitor the effects on surrounding neighborhoods as well as efficacy of enforcement, which would be handled by a combination of city code enforcement officers and Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies.<\/p>\n
As for the funds collected, estimated to be as much as $100,000 annually, of which the city would receive a 60% split, Henderson said the money would be used to improve resiliency and infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndian Rocks Beach is the best beach in Pinellas County, and we want to preserve it and the infrastructure,\u201d he said. \u201cThe political will is there to implement (paid parking), and we\u2019re ready to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Henderson said they would bring an ordinance before the board to change the fee schedule to $4.50 an hour and to enter an agreement with ParkMobile in January, the newcomer succinctly summed up the current tenor of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re one of the last cities, if not the last city, to charge for parking,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, we\u2019re due. The time is right. Let\u2019s get this thing going \u2026 because no one is not in favor of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
City approves ordinance establishing procedures for certified recovery residences<\/p>\n
A state-mandated piece of legislation that has been treated as a formality in most Pinellas County communities received a lot of attention in Indian Rocks Beach when it came to vote on the ordinance.<\/p>\n
After City Attorney Matt Maggard explained how Florida Senate Bill 954 \u201crequires all cities and counties to establish a procedure\u201d for certified recovery residences, which he said are voluntary and private sobriety establishments and not state-supported halfway houses, a lenghty discussion ensued as several residents questioned it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese can be anywhere in the city?\u201d one resident asked, while another said the situation left her \u201creally confused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maggard attempted to quell their fears and concerns by stating approval of the ordinance is required \u201cto comply with state statutes,\u201d while noting that the legislation only \u201ccreates an application and review process\u201d should someone want to open a certified recovery residence in the barrier island community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis establishes a procedure, but they still must come before the City Commission for approval or denial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Former commissioner Lan Vaughan, who qualified to run again in March, agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state is telling us to put a process together, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When Mayor Denise Houseberg asked if \u201csomeone would have to request\u201d opening such a facility in the city, Maggard replied, \u201cthat\u2019s correct.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ordinance is scheduled for a second and final reading in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIAN ROCKS BEACH \u2014 For years, Indian Rocks Beach has held the distinction of being the only Pinellas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[31157,6104,27392,12931,596,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-86708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-beach-parking","9":"tag-beaches","10":"tag-indian-rocks-beach","11":"tag-parking","12":"tag-pinellas-county","13":"tag-st-pete","14":"tag-st-pete-headlines","15":"tag-st-pete-news","16":"tag-st-petersburg","17":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","18":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86708","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=86708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}