St. Augustine Mayor Barbara Blonder raised the idea of installing parking meters along San Marco Avenue, one of the city’s busiest commercial corridors, during a recent budget workshop.
Blonder called the absence of paid parking a “missed opportunity” and suggested the move could help support a travel lane on San Marco into downtown.
She asked Assistant City Manager Reuben Franklin how much money meters typically generate.
Franklin said it varies by location, but that some bring in “hundreds of dollars a day.”
Currently, San Marco has a two-hour parking limit. Blonder asserted that the rule is rarely enforced, effectively allowing for unlimited parking.
Franklin agreed enforcement has become difficult since cars can no longer be marked with chalk. “Without metered parking, it’s very difficult,” he said.
The brief discussion came soon after the City Commission voted to raise fines for serious parking violations in designated areas, such as blocking driveways, from $35 to $100.
That change did not affect expired meter tickets, which are a uniform $25.
“I wanted to get that out there to get us thinking about it,” Blonder said of making San Marco parking paid. “And kind of position us in a better place to make a case to get a transit lane.”
