Local officials on Anna Maria Island and Manatee County are weighing a paid parking system at county-owned beaches as they look for ways to ease what has become a daily traffic crisis, but business owners along the barrier island fear the added cost could push visitors away.
Holmes Beach City Commissioner Dan Diggins said license plate readers show more than 36,000 vehicles driving onto the island each day — a figure he called unsustainable. He said county and city leaders have been in ongoing discussions about charging for beach parking as one possible remedy.
If Manatee County moves forward with paid parking at its beach facilities, Diggins said the island’s three municipalities would need to follow suit for the hundreds of parking spaces within their own rights-of-way, or risk funneling drivers toward any remaining free spots.
“We all either have to do it together or don’t do it at all,” Diggins said.
He also pointed to alternatives already in use, including a water ferry now in service, and said officials are exploring adding a second vessel through the county. “We need to get people out of their vehicles,” he said.
Manatee County, in a statement, confirmed previous meetings with island mayors on congestion relief but said no paid parking proposal has been formally presented to county commissioners. The county said it continues to monitor paid parking models in use elsewhere in Florida.
Not everyone is on board. Emily McGrew, manager of West Coast Surf Shop in Holmes Beach, said her business already employs a parking attendant during busy stretches to keep beachgoers from occupying the shop’s limited spaces. She worries a paid parking program would compound the problem — and potentially keep customers off the island altogether.
“They’re going to be scared,” McGrew said. “They’re not going to be able to find a place to park or be able to afford a place to park, and then they might not come to the businesses to support them.”
Diggins said a follow-up meeting with Manatee County is scheduled for June 17, where leaders are expected to continue working through possible solutions to the island’s traffic problems. No formal proposal or timeline has been announced.
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