Beware of Miami Beach's Parking Hike Vote

by Dabney Richards

Miami Beach has had problems with how many people come to the area, especially during the holidays. Officials have been looking for ways to discourage people from gathering in the area and this past September was going to vote on a new law that could have potentially helped with the traffic. This law would double the parking rates in Miami Beach during “high impact periods”. This would give the city manager a lot of power to implement the rule for up to 72 hours without notifying the commission.

Art Basel. Spring Break. Memorial Day Weekend. During these times where a higher volume of visitors, tourists, and residents will be in the area have caused many problems but the vote to double parking rates has been suspended for now.

City-owned parking lots and garages were the main focus of the vote as well as any city-owned parking metered spots. Some people would have to pay as much as $50 a day for parking in these areas during the high impact periods.

Depending on the event or where people are going in the Miami Beach area, about 10,000 to 25,000 people could be affected which would, in turn, affect businesses in the Miami Beach area.

Employees of the area, especially in the hospitality industry feared how the law would affect them and their commutes to work. Would businesses have to pay for shuttles for employees who couldn’t pay the daily parking rate during these high traffic periods? Would they be given a discount? These were some Commissioner John Elizabeth Aleman’s concerns.

With these types of changes, it is hard to see how this can help business in Miami. How will they get customers and visitors to their stores and services if the city is discouraging them from coming to the area? Other laws have already been put into action to prevent higher traffic volumes on South Beach like preventing party promoters from hosting certain events that may draw large crowds during these periods at various clubs and bars. This will cost businesses money and affect employees as well who rely on tips from the tourists and local visitors who come to the area.

Though the decision was postponed this could affect Miami as a whole greatly. South Beach was already a big money-making area for parking revenue generation for the county. In 2016, the South Beach area alone brought in about 60.7 million dollars from parking fees.

These new laws will lessen traffic and call for more ride-sharing services and carpooling in Miami but will also lessen the revenue made for the Miami Parking Authority.