How would paid parking impact your decision to visit Flagler Beach?

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Palm Coast residents and tourists come to Flagler Beach on a consistent basis, and when asked about the implementation of parking meters, they were not hesitant to share their opinion.

Out of the 23 people that were spoken to on the afternoon of Friday, June 5, 12 were from Palm Coast, 10 were from out of Flagler County, and one was from Flagler Beach. Of those 23 people, two tourists and four Palm Coast residents said that the parking meters would not change their decisions to visit Flagler Beach. However, 12 of the 23 people said they would come less frequently or not come at all; four others also said they would go to Ormond Beach instead. Below is a result of the informal interviews with the beach visitors, some of whom declined to give their last names.

“I would still come here, considering I’m a tourist from Georgia. … If they were to use the money gained from the parking meters to help build Flagler Beach, I would say I support it; if they are spending it elsewhere, though, I definitely would not. This isn’t a private beach, this is a public beach.”
Barbara Smith, Georgia

“I’m not going to come here. … That would be ridiculous.”
Mikchail Shkolnik, Palm Coast

“It would be a hassle. … A lot of people don’t carry around cash or quarters with them.”
Melissa Evers, Cleveland, Ohio

“It wouldn’t affect me. I would still come; I would just need to have coins ready, that’s all. I could see that it would affect the vacationers who come here because they’d be unaware, but it wouldn’t affect me.”
John, Palm Coast

“It wouldn’t be necessary. I would still come, though, despite that.”
Savannah, Ohio

“I would definitely try to find some other beach where you wouldn’t have to pay to park. I really don’t like to pay just to park my car on the beach.”
Annie, Ohio

“This still would not affect my experience. I would still come visit Flagler Beach whenever I could.”
Jamie Sours, Ormond Beach

“If you have to pay to park, you are taking away the enjoyment of people right away once they get there. … it’s a very bad idea.”
Anthony, Palm Coast

“I think the most important thing to know is where the money is going toward. If you know that what the community is spending their money on is actually going for an advancement to Flagler Beach to help make it cleaner or increase infrastructure, there definitely is reason to support it. Otherwise, I’m not going to pay.”
Francesco, Cleveland, Ohio

“We would definitely come here less. … We would go to Ormond; it’s really not that far and you don’t have to pay.”
Colleen L., Palm Coast

“It’s a public place. … I completely disagree with that. I do not want that whatsoever; I wouldn’t come here as much.”
Ryan Kelly, Palm Coast

“I probably wouldn’t come here as much, but if I had to pay, I would pay.”
Hunter Hawkins, Palm Coast

“I fish a lot at the pier. … If I have to pay to fish and then have to pay to park, it’s probably not going to happen as much; I have a family come down from Alaska, and if I would have to pay for them to visit the beach, it’s just a big deal.”
Jack Larson, Palm Coast

“Unless it’s on the side streets, there’s no reason they should put them on the boardwalk. … I mean, what are they going to do when the Fourth of July happens and there’s 3,000 people trying to find somewhere to park?”
Tyler, Palm Coast

“It probably wouldn’t affect me one way or the other. … I could see where it could affect the tourists, though.”
Al, Palm Coast

“It’s just more money wasted. I would come here to work, but I won’t come here to hang out anymore.”
David, Palm Coast

“I live right around the corner, so I could just skateboard here. it really doesn’t have much of an effect on me.”
Nathan, Flagler Beach

“It’ll definitely drive people away from the beach; traffic will slow down, and businesses will stop because of that.”
Aaron Davis, New Smyrna Beach

“I wouldn’t be able to come. That was the whole reason I moved here. … This beach didn’t have meters. I’ll just go to Ormond Beach if they do that.”
Phil, Ormond Beach

“It’s a very poor decision if it goes through. If they enforce tickets to anybody who litters on the beach, they could make up for the money they would be charging for these meters. … I come and park here every day; I wouldn’t want to pay park. I’ll just park my car at Beverly Beach and ride my bike 15 miles or I’ll go to Ormond because of the free parking over there.”
Carey, Palm Coast

“We shouldn’t have to go shuffling for quarters just to go to the beach. Leave little Flagler Beach alone. It’s perfect the way it is.”
Michelle, Palm Coast