Decal Parking at Lake Worth Beach

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The lack of resident decal parking spaces has become a huge problem. One problem is a percentage of people who just will NOT follow the rules. I guess they are screaming the loudest just like those out of state/country Snowbirds who believe we owe them a living. One idiotic driver actually cut me off so that he could get to a space that didn't even exist.

Here were four cars in a full lot. There could have been many more--probably were. No tickets were seen; not a ticket attender in sight. The biggest abuse of our lot is on weekends.

Opening up residential decal permits to non-residents who own property here has to be the worst decision this year, or at least it ranks high on the list. During the winter Season, it will be very difficult for residents to park in their own lot as Snowbirds come here for our wonderful beach and a cheap vacation. It's easier to give-in to them than to say "no."

Residential parking decals have always been a benefit to residents and the point was to only have it a nominal fee as residents live here all year round, it's their beach and they actually use the beach and spend money there 12 months out of the year. Now this commission has stuck a dagger into their eye. They have made it virtually impossible to find a parking spot on weekends and holidays during high Season. They have handed over our 50 residential parking spots to Snowbirds, squeezing out the residents. Even when we had unlimited parking at the beach, Snowbirds were in a different category of parking decal; they paid double.

Now the city wants to charge the residents $40 and the Snowbirds $60 in order to use 50 spaces, a parking lot that was negotiated by former commissioner Cara Jennings for the residents. When we accepted the $5 million in bond money that we had been paying on since 2004, the county would not allow Lake Worth to open up the entire parking area for decal users. Even though it was our money, there were strings--30 years of them to be exact.

Common sense was not used by this commission. It was the easy way out to quiet the raving Snowbirds crying "foul" and "unfair," people who are in our city for a short time during the year and used the argument that they pay taxes.  So do business owners who are no more residents than Snowbirds.  Capitulating to the protester who pays property taxes but is a non-resident--the commission did not know how to deal with their organized outrage.  I can hear it now from the legal department--"oh, give in to them--we don't need anymore possible  litigious problems...we want all this garbage off our plates." There was even some Snowbird nut case who spoke in front of the commission who said it was "unfair" they couldn't vote here. And it is a slap down to year round residents after decades of decal parking permits given to them as a benefit. But this dais knows best.

The mayor says that this commission is listening to the residents.  In this regard, they only listened to non-residents and a few of their more unreasonable constituents and one who only goes to Benny's on the Beach for an occasional breakfast and who parks in handicapped parking for free.