Metered parking to replace nearly all free spots in Midtown Palm Beach

By the end of the summer, nearly all the free parking spaces between Seaview and Hammond avenues will be replaced with metered parking, Palm Beach Police Lt. Paul Alber told a gathering of Worth Avenue business owners.

Speaking Wednesday at a Worth Avenue Association breakfast meeting panel at The Colony Hotel, Alber shared details of the next step in the town’s seven-point parking plan.

While pricing will remain at $5 per hour for inland parking and $7 per hour for beach parking, all metered parking will be capped at two hours, Alber said. If someone wants to extend their parking, they will have to park on a different block.

Business owners have the option to create a ParkMobile business account to manage employee and guest parking, with the parking charges consolidated as a monthly bill, he said.

Palm Beachers who purchased the resident parking permits introduced in November can park for two hours at any metered space for free, Alber noted.

Because parking will predominantly be metered or resident, Alber says the town will have fewer parking signs peppering the streets.

The only free parking near Worth Avenue will be the 15-minute parking spaces neighboring near the post office at 401 S. County Road and a handful 30-minute parking spaces in front of The Esplanade and near Worth Avenue’s intersection with Hibiscus Avenue, he said.

Following the presentation, the panel took questions from the audience. While attendees welcomed the removal of street signs, some worried the transition could affect shoppers who spend their day browsing and dining along the iconic street.

“I get it, I totally get it. But when we looked at the (parking) survey ... the majority of parkers on Worth Avenue are not staying beyond two hours right now,” Alber said, noting that those who wish to stay longer can park at either the Apollo lot or the Esplanade parking garage.

Attendees also contended that businesses will most likely bear the economic brunt of the town’s policy because they would be forced to pay for their employees’ parking.

Deputy Town Manager Bob Miracle acknowledged their concerns and said the town had reached out to the owner of an office building at 125 Worth Ave. and the adjacent ex-Neiman Marcus department store building about allowing Worth Avenue employees to park there. With underground garages, both buildings are owned by entities controlled by Miami resident and Palm Beach homeowner Ken Griffin, the billionaire who founded the Citadel hedge-fund and securities empire.

“They have said that they would like to be a good neighbor, and there may be the potential of opening up some parking spaces,” Miracle said. “I don’t know at this point how many spaces, or what the cost would be, but they said they would be open to the possibility.”

Miracle said the Wells Fargo Bank property's parking lot at South County Road and Royal Palm Way was another possible option. Developer Frisbie Group has yet to announce a new redevelopment proposal for the site, having dropped plans earlier this year for a planned unit development on the property.

Another possible project could be the construction of a parking garage to replace the aging Apollo lot on Hibiscus Avenue, Council Member Lew Crampton said.

"It's not something we can do right now, but it certainly would take the pressure off us from all those cars coming across the bridge," Crampton said.

Even with the growing pains likely to come with the expansion of metered parking, Crampton said that in the end, the changes will promote parking turnover and increase foot traffic to Worth Avenue.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach to replace most free parking in Midtown with metered spots