Due to the City's relatively small geographic area, in conjunction with its density and popularity as a tourist/visitor destination, parking in the City can often prove to be both challenging and expensive. While the City has taken affirmative steps by establishing residential parking discounts at on-street meters, off-street meters and City garages, along with establishing residential parking permit zones (in South and Mid Beach), the residents of North Beach, in particular, are in need of additional overnight and daytime public parking options.

In 2019, the City contracted with Walker Consultants to conduct a North Beach parking study in anticipation of the Ocean Terrace and the 72nd Street Municipal/Civic Complex. The study identified areas where there were parking shortages, but also found that along the Collins corridor, there was ample parking in public lots. The City has again contracted with Walker Consultants for the development of a comprehensive parking master plan, which is currently in progress.

To inform the discussion, Parking staff conducted surveys of the North Beach Collins Avenue corridor lots on two (2) different nights: Saturday, February 3rd and Sunday, February 4th. Surveys were conducted at midnight, when residents are likely to be home. All lots, except for the lot adjacent to the North Shore Youth Center on 72nd Street and Harding Avenue, Lot 107 on 79th Street and Collins Avenue, and Lot 110 located on the 300 block of 83rd Street, were full. The lot on 72nd Street between Collins and Harding avenues had as many as 200 spaces available.

However, as one travels west in North Beach, there are areas with parking shortages. Staff evaluated parking options at private parking facilities. There are multiple empty lots and other lots adjacent to facilities that are closed at night. As part of the evaluation, staff reached out to the Planning Department to identify underutilized lots and only one facility had applied for underutilization status. However, that lot is fenced and slated for construction in the near future.

Various stakeholders were also contacted on this matter, including the property manager at one of the buildings in Parkview Island. The manager advised that the parking lot gets full at night and cannot even accommodate their own resident needs. Stakeholders of other lots advised that their lots were slated for construction in the near future and were thus not available for residential parking. Finally, because private lots usually contract with towing companies to remove unauthorized vehicles, conversations were held with tow company representatives whereby they confirmed their clients would not be interested in opening their lots to the public or residents, because of possible liability and other operational reasons. The tow company representatives also expressed the concerns of their clients regarding code requirements if the lot were to become a commercial public parking facility.