Winter Park residents share concerns at downtown parking summit

Consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. was on an information-gathering mission as it hosted a downtown parking summit June 8 at the Winter Park Welcome Center. 

The firm gave residents a chance to share concerns about parking on Park Avenue. 

A total of 56 residents, business owners and city staff came to the event and were asked everything from how they would rate the current parking availability to what might be the best way to fix the potential parking problem. 

When asked to describe the parking conditions on Park Avenue, the most popular answer at 36% was that the Avenue is packed but that they can still find a parking spot of they need it. Many attendees said the city needs more off-street parking and that it is important for the city to maximize the use of existing parking. 

“This is the first step in a process that will allow us to explore — in a little bit more detail — what you are all experiencing as a community,” Kimley-Horn Vice President Stephen Stansbery said.  

The parking may be a sign of Park Avenue’s continued growth. There have been 1,400 new restaurant seats added since 2003, according to city statistics. 

“We can see that the perception from both groups is parking is challenging,” Kimley-Horn consultant Brett Wood said. “We have to do something to make it a little bit better.” 

He added that there are multiple strategies to handle a potential parking problem — one of which is increased enforcement of parking signs and rules, which would improve the turnover of spaces. Winter Park currently has only one employee who monitors the entire downtown area for parking violations. 

But it’s a careful balance, Wood said. 

“You don’t want it to become perceived as over-regulatory or over-enforcing,” he said. “We don’t want to go from 2,500 tickets to 5,000 tickets, because then we’re just driving people away. We have to do it in a way that’s meaningful and changes behavior, but doesn’t over-restrict people.” 

Other options include making private garages more open to the public and creating a smart phone app that keeps track of where available parking is located. 

Two last resorts are paid parking and building parking structures, Wood said.  

Residents were given a chance to speak on their concerns at the end of the summit. Jack Rogers said the city has squandered multiple opportunities to add more parking spaces, including the recent sale of the Blake Yard property. 

“We could have put approximately 50 cars on that property,” Rogers said. “We’ve got to be smarter than this. … We must look at those opportunities.” 

Kimley-Horn plans to host a second parking summit in August.