Manatee County floats ideas to fix Holmes Beach parking woes. Will they be enough?
The idea of a three-story garage on Anna Maria Island might not be enough for Manatee County leaders to win over the city of Holmes Beach in their ongoing dispute over beach parking.
After clashing with Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth over recent parking restrictions earlier this summer, Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge took a different approach by sending her a letter with a list of proposed agreements that would put more visitors on the island while adding resources to keep the city clean.
“My goal is to provide fair and equal beach access to all residents of Manatee County. I believe this can be achieved while protecting the property, privacy and quality of life of the residents of Holmes Beach,” the letter read.
Van Ostenbridge met with members of the Holmes Beach City Commission before coming up with agreements that he believed would resolve the feud, but the letter received pushback from Titsworth, who said the proposal doesn’t properly account for the impact of adding hundreds of beach parking spaces in the city.
On the county’s end, Van Ostenbridge offered to continue providing tourist development funds toward beach renourishment, arrange for better trash pickup at beach access points and pursue a three-story parking garage at Manatee Public Beach. The county could also find a way to park cars at the island library and at the elementary school, he said.
“Personally, I was not for a parking garage, but the people I’ve spoken to, including the mayor and commissioners, wanted a parking garage,” Van Ostenbridge said, noting that a garage could provide upgraded amenities compared to what’s offered today, such as locker rooms and showers.
A plan to build a parking garage on Anna Maria Island has not officially moved forward, but any formal proposal would likely be an uphill battle. Van Ostenbridge envisioned using the parking lot at Manatee Public Beach, but Holmes Beach’s Code of Ordinances does not allow for a parking garage.
The proposed agreement also asks Holmes Beach to make several changes, such as repealing the parking permit program that limited street parking to island residents, restoring on-street parking spaces that were removed last year and allowing churches to open up their parking lots to beachgoers.
Speaking with the Bradenton Herald, Titsworth described Van Ostenbridge’s proposal as far from perfect. Finding additional parking spaces in Holmes Beach doesn’t resolve the main issues the city is dealing with, she explained.
“The problem with the letter he provided is that he wants to continue wanting more and more and more,” Titsworth said.
While Van Ostenbridge labeled his letter a “good faith” attempt to find a resolution, Titsworth argued that it’s a step in the wrong direction. According to the mayor, Holmes Beach had to put parking limitations in place in order to protect quality of life for island residents.
The city first moved to restrict on-street parking in certain residential neighborhoods after they received complaints from homeowners who said tourists and beachgoers were disrespecting their property. The City Commission heard stories of beachgoers who left trash behind, blocked driveways or relieved themselves in the yard.
In June, the county responded to the city’s new beach parking restrictions by refusing to approve Holmes Beach’s requests to use tourist development funds to reimburse the city for a seawall restoration project.
“What park anywhere does not have a limit on parking? Everything has limits. It’s not just the cars, it’s the bodies and the lack of facilities,” said Titsworth, who noted that Van Ostenbridge’s suggest parking locations don’t include access to restrooms. “I wish his letter would’ve addressed some of that.”
Titsworth plans to share the letter with the Holmes Beach City Commission and discuss Van Ostenbridge’s requests during a public work session meeting later this year, but she expressed skepticism about the board agreeing to the proposed terms.
The full terms of Van Ostenbridge’s proposal are as follows:
Manatee County’s Desired Commitments
- Manatee County to continue county participation in beach nourishment program via tourist development funds.
- Pursue construction of a three-level parking garage on county-owned property at Manatee Avenue and Gulf Drive.
- Provide weekend solid waste removal at beach access points.
- Enact a weekly text messaging system to welcome visitors to our Island communities and increase awareness of local rules and ordinances.
- Provide additional law enforcement for beach patrols when requested by Holmes Beach.
- Make Code Enforcement personnel available when requested by Holmes Beach for parking and beach patrols.
- Work to secure a water taxi service from mainland Manatee County to Anna Maria Island with a stop in Holmes Beach.
- Enter into an inter-local agreement with the School District of Manatee County to provide overflow beach parking at Anna Maria Elementary School.
- Operate the Manatee County Island Branch Library parking lot as a trolley park and ride station on weekends and holidays.
- Reconsider City of Holmes Beach’s request for tourist development Funding for Multi-modal Transportation Enhancements.
Holmes Beach’s Desired Commitments
- Reinstate on-street parking to pre-pandemic levels.
- Repeal parking permit program.
- Establish a program with reasonable restrictions that allows all churches to use their parking lots for beach parking fundraisers.
- Provide water taxi dockage near the Holmes Beach city center.
- Support all county parking initiatives listed in this agreement.
