Meetings scheduled to discuss downtown Delray parking

The battle of the parking meters is about to begin.

For years, talk about installing parking meters along Atlantic Avenue west of the Intracoastal Waterway has infuriated some people, while others think it's a good way for the city to create much-needed revenue.

On Monday, the first of two planning sessions with residents begins, and officials expect to get a blueprint of how to proceed with parking management in the downtown area.

The meetings with the public, continuing on Tuesdaymorning, were scheduled in the fall when city officials couldn't decide whether to implement recommendations from a previous parking study.

"I anticipate people are going to come and say, 'We do not want meters,' " said City Commissioner Adam Frankel, who at first opposed meters on Atlantic Avenue. But he is now undecided, citing concerns over a $3 million deficit in the city's budget.

The meetings will be managed by Fairfield Index Inc., an economic development firm that specializes in teaching organizations how to engage the public. Representatives from Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., the consulting firm that completed the most recent parking study, will also be there.

Frankel opposed spending $98,000 for the study, done in 2011, 75 percent of which the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency funded and which called for installing parking meters on Atlantic Avenue.

The thinking was that if drivers had to pay for premium parking on the avenue, they would find their way to the two free parking garages, thus alleviating traffic on the two-lane road.

The study also found that the city has about 2,660 off-street parking spaces and just over 1,000 on-street spaces in its downtown area. It recommended that meters be placed in the one-block area from south of Atlantic Avenue to one block north, and from Swinton Avenue east to the Intracoastal Waterway.

The study also recommended placing payment boxes in all of the city's free lots around downtown and issuing resident parking passes.

Frankel said he will end up voting for what residents want.

"I was elected by the people to do whatever the majority would want," he said.

The meetings are scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Delray Beach Community Center, 50 NW First Ave. For more information, contact parking specialist Scott Aronson at 561-243-7196 or aronson@mydelraybeach.com .