For now, you can still cruise along Downtown Lake Worth Beach and find free public parking — usually with a 4-hour time limit. But rising demand for parking and a lack of available spaces could force visitors and residents to pay.
The long-time free parking perk along Lake and Lucerne Avenues could soon end as city commissioners consider a paid parking plan and a possible garage for areas with the high parking demand.
During a Dec. 3 commission meeting, Lake Worth Beach Mayor Betty Resch said it could be a huge change for residents.
"We know this is going to be a jarring piece of news for residents," said Resch, "because they’re not used to having to pay."
The considerations are part of an update to a 2018 study that recommends boosting downtown street parking availability and generating millions in revenue.
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WGI, an outside consultancy firm working with the city, recommends a paid parking system, both on and off-street, to promote turnover. It suggests lower fees with longer limits in off-street areas, side streets and along 1st Ave. S and 2nd Ave. N, among other concepts.
"Free parking, while initially beneficial, had led to overcapacity issues, with vehicles double parked, blocking drive lanes, and causing overflow into surrounding neighborhoods,” the report explained.
“We recommend reducing the current 4-hour time limits in the Lake and Lucerne corridor (from J to M Streets) to 2 or 3-hour time limits with fees to ensure appropriate turnover of spaces for the area with the highest parking demand.”
Commissioner Sarah Malega wants to expand the plan beyond downtown — and add more ADA parking spaces, electric vehicle charging stations and a resident decal parking system.
"Parking is an issue all over our city, not just from Dixie Highway to Federal Highway. And, the same thing with the resident parking," Malega said. "When you have small houses that have 15 people living in them, guess where all those cars are? There’re on the roads and you can’t get down the street."
The updated 2024 plan also includes discussion surrounding a 4-level parking garage on S K St that could provide a total of 268 parking spaces, “almost doubling the City’s remaining off-street parking supply,” according to the report.
The City operates paid parking meters at the beach, using mobile payments systems, credit card and coin options.
The experts recommend expanding the beach program to include the downtown area — $3.00/hour for on-street parking rates for the Lake/Lucerne corridor (172 spaces) and $2.50/hour for various side streets (308 Spaces). Ideally, enforcement would take place 7 days/week from 9AM-9PM.
Lake Worth commissioners said they will seek public input before finalizing plans.
