SANFORD, Fla. – City officials held a workshop Monday evening where they discussed parking solutions for Downtown Sanford.
Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff said he wants to focus on all possible strategies to help with parking like more surface lots or residential parking passes, rather than just focus on the possibility of a parking garage.
However, Woodruff said they still have a long way to go before making any final decisions.
“This is going to be a process where we need to get the businesses involved, we need to get residents involved, we have had a lot of requests for a parking garage, we’ve had a lot of complaints about no parking, we want to get everyone together to work out a plan that solves that for everybody,” Woodruff said.
The Sanford City Commission went over the results of a parking district assessment study on Monday evening as discussions over a lack of parking in the popular historic district continue.
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The study showed a 2000 square foot restaurant in the closest proximity zone of the parking garage would pay more than $8,000 in an annual assessment. However, Woodruff said other factors would impact the assessment, like if a business already has their own parking, and adds these numbers and decisions are far from final.
“The parking assessment is sort of the big piece of funding and it’s really going to come down to what percentage of the overall cost do we assign to that assessment and right now what they presented tonight was if that was the only funding source and so that’s as they phrased worst case scenario,” Woodruff said.
Sanford resident Audrey Hendricks-Fox said she’s in favor of the parking garage and adds she would like to see more disabled parking spots in Downtown Sanford.
“I think it’s definitely needed,” Hendricks-Fox said. “I mean, I used to live in Lakeland, and they had the same situation, but they ended up putting in a covered garage, and it really helped.”
But some said they can understand why people might not be in favor.
“There are people who are concerned about the aesthetics, the look of a town and what a parking garage really mesh with the vibe,” said Sanford resident Logan Zelk.
The Sanford City Commission said its plans to hold a community meeting with businesses and property owners in downtown Sanford to discuss parking solutions. City leaders did not set a date for that meeting during the workshop.
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