RE: The Cove Car-park Conundrum

Dear Editor:

Is The Cove Parking Lot an untapped revenue source for Deerfield Beach or the primary utility for the conduct of The Cove’s various businesses?

The city [commission’s] answer to that question will ultimately guide the course of action taken toward resolution of the unsettled parking lot issues currently plaguing both the city and The Cove business and property owners. Make no mistake – these two conclusions currently could not be farther apart.

On the one hand, the city could create an additional revenue source where only maintenance expense and hassle currently exist. On the other, the city could manage the lot in the best interests of business and property owners.

Charging customers for parking in a dead-end cul-de-sac business plaza would do great harm to most of the plaza’s businesses by driving customers to the city’s other pizza parlors, florists, and bagel shops — where they are not charged to park.

Regardless of the amount charged, costs to customers will be driven up, and profit margins and traffic will be reduced. After all, The Cove, while charming in its own right, is not Las Olas Boulevard.

Charging to park [in The Cove Parking Lot] will likely create a spillover effect, and revenue projections will probably fall short once customers are driven away. People who want free beach parking will simply seek other areas like Sullivan Park or the Publix plaza instead of paying to walk a half-mile to the beach.

Conversely, if business owners (who do not currently pay maintenance costs for the lot – an unusual arrangement compared to most plazas) carry the day, we’ll likely have valet parking and large, threatening tow-away signs for unwanted beach-parking-fee fugitives.

What to do? Let’s take a middle course. The city should not own and operate a parking lot that exists primarily to service private businesses.

Its parking lot ownership should be restricted to public areas like beaches, parks, and City Hall.

Also, business and property owners should not get a free and well-maintained parking lot on the city’s dime.

The city should sell the lot to a newly-created Cove Property Owners’ Association, which would charge business owners to maintain common areas; a common arrangement for most plazas.

This way, the city earns income while business owners can manage the lot in their best interest.

The city attorney must negotiate a property release from the heirs of the original owner to get around the issue where the deed reverts to the original owner if the city relinquishes the property.

This is the only viable option that benefits all parties and allows the commission to focus on more pressing matters than car parking.

Anthony Dispenziere

Deerfield Beach