PALM BEACH, Fla. — With the changes of parking spaces coming this Wednesday, you're going to be seeing a lot more of the ParkMobile signs around Palm Beach.
Officials with the police department tell WPTV's Michael Hoffman that in just a few days all the now free parking spaces south of Royal Palm will change to paid spots.
Residents living, working and shopping in Palm Beach said they’re frustrated with the new push to charge for parking.
“I think it’s not nice,” said Olga Cuckic.
“I think it’s a slap in the face,” said Jenine Benzing.
“It takes the small town friendly atmosphere away from the Island,” said Bob Benzing.
Parking spaces south of Royal Palm Avenue that used to be free for one to two hours will cost $5 an hour on the streets and $7 at the beach.
Lt. Paul Alber with the Town of Palm Beach police said the program is meant to help mitigate traffic and parking concerns on the Island, as surrounding areas continue to grow.
“They all want to come to the beach, they all want to come shop, they all want to come and go out to dinner,” said Alber. “So, the Town has to manage to the best of its ability the traffic and parking on the Island.”
Alber said residents with parking passes will have two hours of parking before they’re ticketed and there will be a grace period of a week or two where written and verbal warnings will be dished out in lieu of a parking ticket to those without residential permits.
But at the end of the day people around the area said it’s not about the money.
“It’s the principle, isn’t it?” asked Jeniene Benzing. “It’s the principle.”
Alber said the town will begin changing the signs south of Royal Palm Avenue on the Oct. 2, with spaces north of Royal Palm Avenue to change sometime in the near future.
Meanwhile, the Worth Avenue Association released the following statement to WPTV:
The Worth Avenue Association is pleased that the Town of Palm Beach has been spending significant time formulating and implementing a parking plan that includes Worth Avenue. The town has been receptive to discussions with the Worth Avenue Association and has made efforts to incorporate changes necessary to keep businesses along the Worth Avenue Corridor functioning. There is no way to assess the positive or negative impacts the changes will have on business along Worth Avenue without seeing the changes in effect. We hope the Town will continue to remain receptive to feedback from the Association and our members to fine-tune the parking changes in a way that achieves the goal of providing a flow of business traffic without negatively impacting our members or their customers.
