Bay County Commissioners reconsider paid parking at M.B. Miller Pier

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – Bay County Commissioners are considering some changes to the new paid parking arrangement at the M.B. Miller County Pier.

They may return to free parking for local residents, although they are still trying to work out the enforcement details.

Bay County began charging for parking at the MB Miller Pier on April 12th. The cost is $2 an hour or $12 for the day. Drivers pay using the passport parking app. The plan hasn’t been popular with locals.

On Tuesday, commissioners discussed the possibility of charging only tourists to park at the pier.

“Taking care of the locals so their tax dollars are already paying for these types of things. So they’re not having to come out of their pockets even more,” Chairman Tommy Hamm said.

Since instituting paid parking, the county has been studying the program to see who’s using it. They found that about 11.5% of the users are Bay County residents. Of the $85,000 collected since April, roughly $9,500 has come from locals.

“But the staff’s projection was around 10-11% on an annual basis, you know would be derived off the backs of Bay County which in the whole scheme of things is I think it’s, it’s insignificant,” Hamm said.

Commissioner Clair Pease recommended paid parking to generate money for the county’s parks and maintain the pier. County officials estimate they’d lose about $48,000 a year if they allowed locals to park for free.

“There’s more wear and tear on the pier, you know, by people from out of town. So it wouldn’t be unjust for them to pay for that for the use and the enjoyment of it,” Pease said.

Some tourists we spoke to didn’t seem to mind the proposal.

“I don’t mind paying being away from here. I understand that they had to pay to get the beach cleaned up, I don’t mind paying that myself,” visitor Joe Judkins said.

“Honestly, if I lived here, I wouldn’t want to pay for parking either. So, to me, it makes sense,” visitor Josh Riveria said.

But not everyone is as agreeable.

“I think it should be free. I think that’s not fair at all,” visitor Destiny Pierce said.

The county is still trying to figure out how to enforce the tourist-only fees through the passport parking app.

Commissioners will be taking up the possible parking changes at the August 6th meeting.

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