Windermere to add more parking downtown

WINDERMERE – Spending your valuable time trying to find parking at a packed event is never a welcome chore.

That’s why the Town of Windermere is working on adding a shared-use parking lot on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forest Street. The town is currently short about 16 parking spaces for commercial use, said Windermere Town Manager Robert Smith, but it plans to rectify that with the addition of 30 to 40 more spaces soon.

"We needed to work with the (First Baptist church of Windermere) and do a lease agreement for that area by the central park for additional spaces, and we got to negotiate a lease with the church for their two properties on Fifth (Avenue) and Forest (Street) where we would demo the houses and add additional parking there to help bridge that gap," Smith said.

The town plans to demolish two homes to aid in its goal and will be placing a landscape buffer along Forest Street. Smith said he expects the extra spaces will help visitors who attend the more popular town events, the local farmers market every week and the surrounding businesses, and hopefully stop visitors from parking on the rights-of-way during such events.

“The only entrance and exit for that parking will be along Fifth Avenue and not on Forest (Street)," he said. "But we’ll make sure it’s nicely shaded, nicely landscaped, that it has passive parking and that it’s sensitive to the surrounding area that will be used by both the church and the town.”

The whole project is estimated to cost about $20,000 to $40,000, Smith added, which includes lease rental fees, demolition, construction and landscaping. Smith expects the additional parking will become available early next year.

Residents who live along Forest Street are invited to attend a town workshop on the issue in October.

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected]