By Jane Musgrave
Palm Beach County has scrapped a plan that would have forced county residents to get annual passes to continue to park for free at 12 county beachfront parks beginning Oct. 1. At the same time, officials nixed a plan to slap out-of-county residents with $4-an-hour parking fees.
The turnaround came after parks officials discovered that the proposed fees would violate state and federal grants that were used for improvements at eight of the parks. According to the grant terms, all beachgoers have to be treated equally.
A County Commission plan to charge only out-of-county residents ran afoul of the conditions that prohibit discrimination, said Jennifer Cirillo, director of the county Department of Parks and Recreation. The county couldn’t make nonresidents pay while letting residents park for free.
Initially, Cirillo suggested charging everyone — both residents and nonresidents — to park at the 12 seaside parks, including Gulfstream Park in the County Pocket next to Gulf Stream, Ocean Ridge Hammock Park in Ocean Ridge, and Ocean Inlet Park in Boynton Beach. The fee would have generated an estimated $10 million annually.
While Commissioner Maria Marino championed the fee, she reversed course in July after receiving more than 2,000 emails from angry residents. Instead, she suggested just charging out-of-county residents, which would have put $3 million in county coffers.
The other commissioners followed her lead because seven of the 12 parks that would be affected are in her north county district.
While county residents won’t have to get parking passes and out-of-towners won’t have to pay at the 12 parks, not all county beachfront parks are free.
For years, the county has collected parking fees at South Inlet Park in Boca Raton and R.G. Kreusler Park, which is adjacent to Lake Worth Beach Park.
Boca Raton and Lake Worth Beach officials demanded it. They worried that revenues at their parks would plummet if beachgoers could park at the nearby county parks for free.
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