The end of free two-hour parking in Midtown Palm Beach is looming, as city officials announced Tuesday that they have begun replacing parking signs on Brazilian Avenue with new parking meter and resident parking signs.
The move is part of a six-point parking management plan for the city that calls for converting nearly all parking spaces in the 100s to 400s blocks of all streets from Seaview Avenue south to Hammond Avenue to metered parking and resident parking.
When the project is completed, the only free parking remaining will be 15-minute spots near the post office at 401 S. County Road and a handful of 30-minute spots in front of the Esplanade and near the intersection of Worth and Hibiscus Avenues, Palm Beach police Lt. Paul Alber told the Worth Avenue Association during a May 3 presentation.
Metered parking is available from 9 a.m. to midnight. The fee is $5 per hour for inland parking and $7 per hour for beach parking. Metered parking is limited to two hours. Palm Beach residents who purchased resident parking permits introduced in November can park in any metered parking lot for two hours at no additional charge.
The changes are intended to increase parking turnover rates, Palm Beach police spokesman Capt. Will Rothrock told the Daily News. Expanding the parking meter system will also allow the city to track visitors’ parking patterns using data collected by the ParkMobile parking meter system, he said.
After the parking signs are installed, Palm Beach parking enforcement will issue written warnings for a week to give drivers time to adjust, city officials say. After that time, enforcement officers will issue tickets.
For more information on the rollout of the new parking signs, including a preliminary installation schedule, visit townofpalmbeach.com/1324/Park-in-Palm-Beach. For parking-related questions, contact Code & Parking Enforcement at 561-277-7080
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at Palm Beach Daily NewsPart of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected].
