ANNA MARIA — Parking in this island city of about one square mile has always been a hot topic.
It became a little hotter Tuesday during a meeting of a committee formed to review safety concerns in the business district along Pine Avenue and Gulf Drive, especially with all the new development that has occurred along the narrow, two-lane roadways.
Newly elected Commissioner Harry Stoltzfus wrote a letter to the mayor, his fellow commissioners, the planning and zoning board and other city officials about parking in front of businesses where drivers have to back over a sidewalk into the flow of traffic when they leave.
“I’ve been trying to reconcile what I consider an unsafe confluence of vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic created by 315/317 Pine Avenue, with the goals, objectives, and policies of the (Comprehensive) Plan and the codes of the (Land Development Regulations), and am unable to do so,” Stoltzfus’ letter read.
After he took office Nov. 12, the commission asked Stoltzfus to study the issue and report back at a Dec. 3 workshop meeting.
At the committee meeting Tuesday, the commissioner said he felt access to parking areas in front of the businesses needed to be limited with a driveway.
“All maneuvering should be on the property,” Stoltzfus said, “and not in the right of way.”
This would create problems with most of the retail stores and offices, since the building setback from the street is narrow and would not accommodate a plan where vehicles circulate through a parking lot.
Several of the committee members and residents present at the meeting had other suggestions to alleviate the interaction between pedestrians and motor vehicles.
Mike Coleman, who built the retail/office/residential space at 315/317 Pine Avenue that Stoltzfus referenced in his letter, said pedestrian safety also was a major concern for him.
“My son is up and down Pine Avenue on a skateboard every day,” Coleman said.
He said the problem is the sidewalks are between the roadway and the parking spaces.
“If you don’t want vehicles to cross the sidewalks,” Coleman said, “move the sidewalks closer to the buildings.”
Coleman and Ed Chiles, the owner of The Sandbar restaurant, are the principals in the Pine Avenue Restoration Project, a plan to revitalize the business district.
The two businessmen purchased several lots along the half-mile road between Gulf Drive and Anna Maria City Pier and have city-approved plans to build retail/office space on the first floor with residences on the second at three of those sites.
During his election campaign, Stoltzfus pointed to the problems he thought the Pine Avenue Restoration Project would create for the mostly-residential community.
Mark Alonzo, a resident who is known for riding his wildly decorated tricycle throughout the city, said Stoltzfus’ actions would stifle businesses.
“They are creating work and employing people,” Alonzo said after the meeting, “and he’s doing everything to stop them.”
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