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New Smyrna Beach staff urges paid parking, resident registration and data collection to manage Canal and Flagler districts
Summary
At a Nov. 18 workshop, staff recommended a paid-parking rollout in Flagler and Canal districts with resident registration, modern data collection and a piggyback contract with the county contractor; commissioners asked for cost-benefit analysis and timeline before any ordinance or contract is brought back for a vote.
City staff recommended beginning implementation of a paid parking program across the Canal and Flagler parking districts and using modern data tools to measure occupancy and demand, Ron Nyberg told the New Smyrna Beach City Commission at a Nov. 18 workshop.
Nyberg said staff’s proposal follows recommendations from a citizen parking task force and the LTG consultant report and would require most city lots and on-street spaces to be paid, while exempting City of New Smyrna Beach residents if they register vehicles with proof of residency. "City of New Smyrna Beach residents will not pay for parking. However, we will require them to register their vehicle and to utilize the kiosk or app when they come to park," Nyberg said, describing acceptable proof as a tax bill, lease, driver's license showing a New Smyrna Beach address, or vehicle registration.
The staff recommendation would also use a piggyback provision to hire PCI, the parking-management firm the county recently engaged, to speed implementation and coordinate regional management. Nyberg said the objective is not only to collect payment but to gather utilization data: "The system is going to tell me right then and there how many of the Coronado spaces have cars logged into that system at any point in time," he said, while acknowledging current limits: lot-level counts are feasible but precise per-space occupancy (a green/red dot model) is costlier.
Commissioners expressed a mix of support and caution. Commissioner McGurk said she wants to "get stuff moving" but stressed the workshop is not a vote. Commissioner Martin asked for evidence that offering residents free parking (or large discounts) will not make the program financially untenable and pressed for cost‑benefit data. Several commissioners asked staff to consult other beach towns to benchmark net revenue and operating costs.
Staff told the commission that enforcement would rely on registration plus routine checks and that the system could be configured to limit allowed durations and flag expired sessions for citation. Nyberg further said the system could integrate with county data if free access for county residents were maintained, but making only city residents free complicates data sharing.
No formal action was taken; commissioners directed staff to continue work, gather comparative financials and return with an implementation proposal and contract details for formal consideration.
