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Petition asks for veto on beach parking garage
Matthew McClellan reports.
HOLMES BEACH, Fla. - The city of Holmes Beach, population 3,023, has a ban on building new parking garages. But there's a new bill on the governor's desk that would effectively preempt the city's ban, leading hundreds of vocal opponents to petition online.
The petitioners are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto House Bill 947 and block construction on a multi-story parking garage at Manatee Beach Park, located at State Road 64 and Gulf Drive.
The bill, which passed in both the House and Senate earlier this month, would give Manatee County the authority to build the garage "without 16 obtaining any permit, approval, consent, or letter of no objection from the city of Holmes Beach."
The governor's signature is now the only thing now standing in the way of the measure. The day after the bill passed in the Senate, the city of Holmes Beach began calling on residents and business owners to write Governor DeSantis and ask him to veto the bill. Opponents are concerned about government overreach, maintaining home rule, and preserving the island's unique charm.
File: Beach parking
"Putting a parking garage in Holmes Beach is similar to putting a landfill in the Botanical Gardens down in Sarasota," Holmes Beach resident Jim Craig told commissioners during a recent meeting. "Like, what? What are we talking about?"
Speaking with Fox 13 News in late January, Holmes Beach city commissioner Terry Schaefer seemed to agree.
"When you lose local control... the most sacred of all legislative priorities for any city in almost any state-- certainly Florida-- is home rule. And this is a significant attack on home rule."
No parking sign at the beach.
The mayor of Holmes Beach sent a letter to the governor in early May asking him to veto the bill. The debate goes back nearly three years, when the city removed some street parking spaces during the pandemic.
"Over the last few years, parking spaces on Anna Maria Island have been strategically removed," State Representative Will Robinson said in January. "Unfortunately, our island cities have caused this problem, specifically Holmes Beach."
Central to the conflict is the question of who has authority over the island.
Beach access sign.
So far, the governor's office has not weighed in on whether he plans to sign the bill.
Between two online petitions launched this month, more than 1,800 people have signed, equaling well over half the city's population.