Nearly five years since conversations started about implementing paid parking on the island, the Hilton Head Island Town Council passed a resolution Tuesday that will require visitors to pay a parking fee while using almost all town beaches starting in March.
The 5-2 vote on the resolution came after over an hour of discussion. Council members Patsy Brison and Tamara Becker were in opposition. Up until the Tuesday meeting, it was the first time the council publicly discussed a new paid parking proposal recommended by the Community Services and Public Safety Committee.
Council members also unanimously voted on an ordinance that would amend the town’s municipal code, which addresses parking fees, payment and enforcement, and would set forth administrative penalties and fines and determine an appeal process.
On Tuesday, council members unanimously voted in favor of the ordinance without any amendments. But Town Manager Josh Gruber said the ordinance requires two separate readings on two different days before adoption by the council, meaning it needs to be read and voted on once more before it is adopted. This will likely take place in the next town council meeting on Oct. 1, Gruber said.
Details of the passed resolution, which will be instated March 1:
- Residential parking passes are now free. The two car per household cap holds.
- Visitors will be charged $3 per hour, with a $15 daily cap on weekdays, and a $20 daily flat rate on weekends at the majority of town beach lots.
- The Pope Avenue business district, which includes Coligny Beach Park, the former Wild Wing Cafe and the former Aunt Chiladas, will be transitioned into additional parking lots but will be exempt from parking fees.
- The program lasts from March 1 to Sept. 7.
- The beach will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but drivers will only have to pay between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
- Paid parking at Chaplin Beach Park will be suspended during youth recreational sports (in other words, only requiring beach parking between Memorial Day and Labor Day).
The resolution will add paid parking to Fish Haul Beach Park and Chaplin Beach Park between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and increase parking rates at the 21 metered spaces at Islander’s Beach Park, the 50 spaces at Folly Field Beach Park and the 168 metered spots at Driessen Beach Park. Coligny Beach Park parking will remain free.
Under the proposed ordinance, its rules and regulations would apply in the paid parking area and would be enforced by the designated parking contractor, community code enforcement officers or the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, according to the amended ordinance .
The ordinance would also change antiquated language that includes “coin meters,” as opposed to modern technology.
Mayor Alan Perry said that parking fees will not only serve as an additional revenue stream, but, if the amended ordinance is passed, it will give the town the ability to create their own municipal court. At this time, he said, the town has no ability to enforce things like trash, bottles, and fireworks on the beaches. The newly proposed system gives the town the ability to enforce parking violations as opposed to law enforcement.
The Community Services and Public Safety Committee, which established the plan for a paid Beach Parking Program and a corresponding resolution, projected that between March and September, the $3 per hour structure for the 1,101 spaces available could generate a net of $1.53 million.
But with the carve outs for Coligny Beach Park and other aspects of the resolution, the program should deliver to the town about $600,000 annually.
Impact to businesses
Perry recommended that the business district, which includes Coligny Beach Park and two additional lots on Pope Avenue would remain free for parking. The town, according to Becker, invested nearly $7 million on two properties to secure between 225 and 270 additional free parking spots.
“We have to be careful what we put into place to ensure we aren’t hurting local businesses,” Perry said. “The unintended consequences of creating paid parking in the Pope Avenue area could be detrimental to our business community.”
Cheryl Klippel, a 34-year resident and business owner on Pope Avenue, including Island Girl in Coligny, expressed concerns to the council about paid parking in Coligny. If paid parking is implemented, she said, people will try and find free parking and will take up crucial spaces at local businesses.
“M y people (employees) aren’t residents of Hilton Head. They come from Beaufort, they come from Bluffton, they come from Ridgeland,” Klippel said. “And then you want to give them a pass for a reduction fee for parking, but who’s going to pay for that? I am. Because I’m certainly not going to make my employees, who are struggling to make it work on Hilton Head to pay a parking fee.”
Lee Lucier, CEO of the Richardson Group representative of over 60 businesses that would be affected by the new program, said he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting.
Even though there are still operating procedures to get through, Lucier said that the council listened to business owners in the Pope Avenue business district and they finally got it done, not just to get it done, but with intention.
Perry acknowledged the new parking fee structure surfaced many differences in opinion.
“Is this controversial? Yes, it is,” Perry said. “Who knows what is right and what is wrong. That’s why I say start slow.”
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