Delray to charge for downtown garage parking

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Prepare to pay if you plan on using one of the city’s downtown garages at peak times. And prepare to pay more if you plan to go to the beach.

Delray city commissioners Tuesday approved a $5 fee for parking in the Old School Square and Federspiel garages. The fee would apply only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings when demand for downtown parking is at its highest.

Until now, the city only charged for parking in the garages during major events. Street parking, including premium spaces on Atlantic Avenue, remain free.

It will cost $5 to park your car at peak times in Delray's Old School Square parking garage.

Beach parking will increase a quarter to $1.25 an hour. That includes all metered parking on A1A and the city-owned lots. Originally the extra quarter an hour was to apply only to parking on A1A, with the lots cheaper as an incentive to get beachgoers to use them.

Commissioners Adam Frankel and Gary Eliopoulos questioned whether charging for the garages while keeping street parking free was the right move since it would discourage use of the garages.

But the city is studying whether to put meters in the downtown. The fee for garage parking is an interim move and can be easily changed if necessary.

“If we get three months into this and it’s not working, we’ll do something different,” City Manager David Harden said.

Also Tuesday, commissioners upheld the Site   Plan Review and Appearance Board’s rejection of CVS Pharmacy’s request to double the number of signs on its building at 700 N.E. 6th Avenue. The site essentially is the northern entrance to the city.

Commissioners approved a request from the owner of H&H Flooring to store foxtail palms on his property. The palms, which are in containers, are owned by a landscaper who lost his lease.