Destin CRA board asks staff to seek parking-based revenue and funding options for Harbor district

DESTIN, Fla. — The Destin Community Redevelopment Agency board voted to ask city staff to identify nonpaid parking spaces in the Harbor CRA district that could be converted to paid parking and to return with options for generating short-term revenue for the Harbor CRA.

The motion, which the board approved by voice vote, also asked the Harbor CRA advisory committee to present a prioritized list of projects for which it would use any new funds. The requests follow a series of recommendations from the Harbor CRA advisory committee — including a proposal to convert the “Harbor 1” parcel at 1 Harbor Boulevard into a temporary paid lot — and concerns that the Harbor CRA is carrying a roughly $9 million debt with a large balloon payment due in about five years.

Why it matters: The Harbor CRA is already carrying debt tied to past projects, and advisory members said they need a predictable funding source to do planning and small-scale work while larger financing and capital projects play out. Board members and city staff cautioned that some parking revenues are already legally designated to a parking special revenue fund and that changes may require action by the body that adopted the original resolution.

What happened: John Stevens, who identified himself as chairman of the Harbor CRA advisory committee, briefed the board about three motions the advisory group had forwarded. Stevens summarized one passed advisory motion that recommends pursuing a temporary paid parking lot at 1 Harbor Boulevard to generate revenue for the Harbor CRA and said that motion passed 5–1 at the advisory meeting.

Stevens also said advisory members had recommended that the CRA board direct staff to identify nonpaid city parking spaces inside the Harbor CRA district and convert them to paid parking where appropriate, and to consider allocating 50% of parking revenue generated in the Harbor CRA district to the Harbor CRA fund. Stevens added that the advisory committee had asked the council to explore Tourist Development Council (TDC) funding options to repair the seawall at 1 Harbor Boulevard.

Board debate focused on several problems and constraints. Jim Bagby and others said they opposed making Harbor 1 a parking lot because temporary lots often become effectively permanent and could interfere with future uses for the parcel — including a planned bridge laydown area and a proposed viewing area with terraced seating. Bagby also said he opposed redirecting parking fund money because the parking fund had been designated for parking improvements and debt related to parking projects.

“I am not in favor of making specifically the cemetery parking there by the cemetery, paid parking,” Bagby said as he described concerns about charging families attending funerals and the potential that local employees with city parking passes would not generate revenue.

Kevin Schmidt said he would not support converting Harbor 1 to a parking lot and favored pursuing green space or a safe walkable area there. Several board members noted that current city code does not allow stand-alone parking lots in parts of the Harbor zoning district; staff said an amendment to the Land Development Code (LDC) would be required to permit a stand-alone lot in that zoning district.

City finance staff and parking operations: The board discussed the legal and accounting limits on parking revenue. Crystal Kopp (referred to in the meeting as Crystal and later as “Miss Kopp”) explained that council had previously reserved parking revenues into a parking special revenue fund to address parking issues across the city. Michael Burgess, a city staff member, said he was attempting to tally a year’s revenue from three main lots (Marler Street, Zerbe and the community center) and reported a back-of-the-envelope FY25 total of about $175,000 from those three lots, meaning a 50% split would be about $87,500.

Kopp and other members noted the body that passed the prior resolution controlling the parking-fund designation would need to change that resolution to redirect funds. Kopp also said the Harbor CRA carries the $9 million debt and that a balloon payment from a loan taken in November 2024 will come due in roughly five years; she said the city plans to refinance that loan when the payment is due.

Board actions: The CRA board approved two items related to the Harbor CRA finances: - A motion directing staff to identify additional nonpaid city parking spaces within the Harbor CRA district for potential conversion to paid parking (approved by voice vote). - A motion directing staff to return with options to create or identify revenue to support the Harbor CRA for the next several years, coupled with a request that the Harbor CRA advisory committee present a prioritized list of projects the committee would fund with any new revenue (approved by voice vote).

Operational and enforcement notes: Board members discussed parking enforcement and technology. Burgess explained that code enforcement officers use a plate-based app that shows active paid sessions; the app can be used in the field to issue citations for vehicles without active sessions. The board asked staff to investigate whether tow companies or other enforcement partners could be given access to the system or whether other vendor changes could improve compliance and revenue collection. The city manager said staff are negotiating with the parking vendor (LAZ Parking) on dynamic pricing options — higher on-demand peak fees and lower off-peak rates — and expected proposals for council consideration.

Background and next steps: The Harbor CRA advisory committee had earlier recommended repair options for the Harbor 1 seawall and a paid-parking pilot; the CRA board’s actions were limited to asking staff for options and did not change any fund designations. Staff and Kopp stressed that moving parking revenues from the parking special revenue fund would require action by the body that previously adopted the designation. The board also discussed zoning constraints: staff noted Harbor 1 sits partly in a zoning area that does not allow stand-alone parking without an LDC amendment.

The board asked staff to return with the requested analyses — including revenue tallies, legal paths for redirecting parking funds, and possible vendor or enforcement changes — to inform future decisions.

Ending: The CRA meeting adjourned after the votes; members said they expect staff to return with options and that the Harbor CRA advisory committee will present a prioritized project list for any funding it might receive.