By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton has scrapped its plan to change the beach parking system.
On ice are the addition of new technology and eliminating beach park gatehouses.
Residents still will be able to get a sticker to attach to the lower left-hand corner of their windshield that shows they are permit holders as they enter Spanish River, Red Reef and South Beach parks.
The cost is unchanged at $85 for city residents and those living within the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District for the year that began on Oct. 1 and ends on Sept. 30, 2026.
The daily flat parking rate for non-permit holders driving cars, motorcycles and minivans remains at $35 on weekdays and $50 on weekends.
The city had proposed changes in June that were intended to make it quicker and simpler to park at beach parks. Instead, they caused confusion and anger.
The problems started with a memo from then-City Manager George Brown to City Council members in early summer that sought their authorization to establish a parking meter zone for the beach parks.
Residents thought that meant parking meters would be installed, parking permits would be eliminated and they would lose some parking access while non-residents would gain access.
Many feared the changes would allow for hourly parking, making the spaces more desirable to out-of-towners who otherwise would have to pay the higher-priced daily rate. City officials said that was not going to be the case.
Officials tried to clarify that residents would not lose parking and parking permits would remain.
The city simply wanted to improve parking technology by installing meters that could tell who was a permit holder and who was not, with non-permit holders charged the daily parking rate.
Eliminating gatehouses, officials said, would allow residents to enter the parks more quickly.
But the widespread confusion prompted Mayor Scott Singer to pull the matter from the June 10 City Council agenda so that city staff could better explain the plans to residents.
He said the council would consider the proposed changes later in the summer. That never happened.
Instead, city staff took steps to streamline the system to make it easier for residents to get both information and the permits, such as improving how residents can get permits online.
Since then, the city has gotten no complaints. “It’s been going great,” said a city spokeswoman.
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