Street parking in South Beach set to jump to $6 per hour. Resident rates will double

Street parking in South Beach is set to increase from $4 to $6 an hour for non-city residents as part of a slew of parking rate hikes across Miami Beach starting Oct. 1, the city announced Thursday.

A $1 hourly rate for residents who register to receive a discount will double to $2.

This is the first time Miami Beach has imposed parking rate increases since 2015, officials said.

Among the other changes set to take effect next month:

• Parking in surface lots in South Beach, including in the entertainment district, will increase from $2 to $3 per hour.
• Parking garage rates in South Beach will jump from $2 to $3 per hour for up to four hours.
• On-street parking on the east side of Mid-Beach will go from $3 to $4.
• All parking in North Beach will rise from $1 to $2.
• In residential parking zones, 24-hour visitor permits will go from $3 to $4.

City Manager Eric Carpenter informed Mayor Steven Meiner and the City Commission of the changes in a Sept. 13 memo, noting that a 2019 ordinance gave the manager authority to adjust parking fees every five years based on the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation.

But not all of the city’s elected officials are pleased. Commissioner Alex Fernandez told the Miami Herald he will propose “reversing” the hikes before they take effect.

“These parking fee increases place an unnecessary burden on the public, especially at a time when many are already facing financial challenges,” Fernandez said in a text message. “Unnecessary parking increases like these only harm the very people we are here to serve.”

In a post on social media, Commissioner Joseph Magazine said he would bring a legislative item to an October meeting to “reverse the rate increase to take this burden off of our residents.”

“While parking rates haven’t increased since 2015, I fully understand how residents are pressured with so many other inflationary cost increases in life,” Magazine wrote.

The last time rates went up in 2015, parking at curbside meters in South Beach went from $1.75 to $4 an hour, while rates at surface lots and garages saw smaller bumps.

City officials said at the time that the move was not about raising revenues but rather about reducing traffic gridlock by cutting back on the number of drivers circling the block for streetside parking and incentivizing drivers to instead use parking garages and surface lots.

The city’s public announcement Thursday drew swift backlash from some residents, including dozens of people commenting on a Facebook post that detailed the changes.

“Instead of squeezing residents and visitors with these outrageous increases, the focus should be on lowering costs to encourage more people to come, support the few businesses still trying to survive, and help bring the beach back to life,” one commenter wrote.

Better Streets Miami Beach, a group that advocates for improving bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and moving away from reliance on cars, said in a post on X that increasing on-street parking rates in South Beach was “sound strategy.”

“On street parking is a scarce resource, with high demand and limited supply. Price is one way to regulate and help balance the market,” said Matthew Gultanoff, the group’s founder.

Gultanoff added that “continued investment in other transportation choices is needed,” including “fixed rapid transit and bicycle/micromobility infrastructure to offer residents and visitors more options.”

The City Commission voted in May to approve changes to simplify the rate structure at South Beach parking garages and to reduce the rates at a 42nd Street garage in anticipation of the adjustments in October. But the body didn’t address rates for on-street or surface lot parking.

In the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, officials estimate that parking meter revenues will rise from about $29 million to $32 million next year.

This story was originally published September 20, 2024 at 5:00 AM.