Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/285258
He also suggested a unique solution for peo- ple who park in the State Street lot every day. "If you are a customer of Northern Trust [Bank], you can park for free [in its parking garage next door]," Lyons suggested. "You might want to open a bank account." He is working not only with Northern Trust, but also with the merchants along State Street who face the new garage. "I'm planning on holding a meeting with them next week to share this information and collect their ideas as well, he said. Before construction of the garage begins, Lyons hopes to offer guidance to summer drivers on where they can find nearby down- town parking. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE "I think it's time to get going with this," said Parking Advisory Board member Carl Shoffstall. "We've been meeting 18 months now." He was referring to the board's development over that time of what its overarching mis- sion should be regarding parking, as well as a push again for paid parking. The board agreed that city parking options should be easy to use, trouble-free, safe, clean and reliable. Then it developed five guiding principles for the program: Support economic vitality, prevent spillover into neighborhoods, maintain public safety, ensure financial sus- tainability and use facts for decision-making. Last year, the advisory board received a pro- fessional examination of supply-and-demand issues related to parking, with information about both the season and off-season periods. It followed up on that by creating a strategic plan for parking. In other words, the advisory board is awash in both data and thought. "The next step is to move these concepts in greater detail to the City Commission," said Lyons. "We are looking for a strategy to use beyond today, but not to get too far out on a limb." The "limb" was the city's aborted experiment in the spring of 2011 to institute a paid parking regime downtown with meters. It lasted all of 45 days before a perceived rebellion of down- town merchants killed the program. Eight people with bags over their heads protested, and the city commissioners pulled the plug, sidelining hundreds of state-of-the-art meters. "If we don't build on a solid foundation, we're going to do this all over again," noted Lyons. Shoffstall said he perceives the mood has changed at City Hall. "The commissioners I'm talking to are not saying, 'No, no, no,'" he added. The change of heart may be a result of the fact that parking represents a budgetary black hole, requiring half a million dollars from the general fund every year to enforce the time restrictions and maintain the city's parking garages. Income is limited to ticket revenue. In other words, since the city commissioners killed paid parking in 2011, it has cost city taxpayers more than $1 million to keep park- ing "free" downtown. "We need to talk about this now," said Shoffstall. "We need to get them moving." % Sarasota News Leader March 28, 2014 Page 26