Delray DDA, merchants and valets clash over downtown parking plan; board opposes centralized valet

The Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority on July 14 took up the city’s draft downtown parking and curbside-management plan and heard more than a dozen public speakers — restaurant and retail owners, valet operators and residents — who warned proposed changes could hurt employees, reduce turnover of customer spaces and make access harder for elderly and disabled patrons.

The DDA’s discussion focused on three principal topics in the city proposal: changing meter hours and rates on Atlantic Avenue and side streets; metering and time limits in surface lots such as the Railroad and Gladiola lots; and a city proposal to centralize valet operations into hub lots. DDA members and multiple speakers told the board they want more public engagement and asked city staff to reconsider a centralized valet model and to study using downtown garages as employee parking.

DDA staff member Laura Simon summarized the city’s presentation: Atlantic Avenue currently is $4 per hour with a three-hour limit; the city proposed beginning enforcement one hour earlier, at 11 a.m., but not raising the rate. Side-street meter rates currently near $2 per hour were proposed by the city to increase to $3 per hour and begin at 11 a.m. Surface lots that are now free or timed would receive new metering and a 4-hour maximum under the city proposal. The DDA’s written response recommended limiting new charges in some lots, keeping railroad lot parking…