Downtown Brooksville business owners raise parking loss; council asks staff to contact property owner

A downtown Brooksville business owner told the City Council on June 15 that a downtown parking lot that once served local merchants is now controlled by a private lessee and has constrained parking for customers.

Holly Garman, who identified herself as a Main Street business owner, said 13 spaces once used under a city arrangement are now allocated to a lessee, who repeatedly blocks spaces and posts tow warnings that, she said, "according to Florida statutes does not have the correct verbiage on them, so it is not enforceable." Garman said the lack of parking deters visitors and hurts downtown revenue.

The mayor and council acknowledged the long‑standing parking scarcity in downtown Brooksville and noted historical arrangements with the Methodist School Center had ended when ownership changed. The mayor suggested directing staff to contact both the property owner and the current lessee to explore whether a shared access or lease arrangement could be reinstated. "We could maybe direct staff to talk to not only the actual owner but the lessee and see if they would be open to going into an agreement like we used to have," the mayor said.

Council members asked legal and staff to look for any written agreements that might exist from prior decades. City staff offered to follow up with the business owner after the meeting. No formal remedy or enforcement action was taken during the session; council instructed staff to investigate and report back.

Next steps: staff will contact the owner and lessee, check for any written agreements or recorded conveyances, and report findings to council; if a legal avenue exists to restore public parking the city may pursue it.