Council debates underground parking, Charter Height limits; staff asked to draft criteria

City Council members spent the latter half of the Feb. 18 workshop debating whether underground parking structures should be allowed in Naples and, if so, under what conditions. The discussion crossed legal, planning and resilience topics: how below‑grade floors are counted under the Charter Height Amendment, the risk of dewatering and contaminated discharge, life‑safety and access for fire responders, and potential effects on the city’s flood insurance status.

Council Member Petronoff urged that the Charter Height Amendment must be respected and argued that below‑grade parking should be counted as a story. “To me there’s no doubt that the Charter Height Amendment stipulates the structures must comply with 2 rules, 1 that is measured and 1 that is counted,” she said, and recommended staff craft language to treat underground levels as…