Free parking on Anna Maria Island's northern tip could soon come with a price tag. City officials in Anna Maria are weighing a plan to charge roughly $4.50 an hour for more than 1,100 of the city's parking spots, part of a broader overhaul that would also let registered residents park for free with a one-time permit fee.
The proposal stems from a parking study conducted by WSP USA, which found Anna Maria currently has 4,573 total parking spaces, including 113 privately owned, according to The Anna Maria Islander. WSP senior transportation planner Christine Fanchi presented findings this month proposing to shrink the city's public parking supply by about 9%, down to 4,043 spaces, with 1,119 of those becoming paid spots subject to three- or four-hour time limits in commercial districts. The city hired WSP in April to study its parking woes and recommend fixes.
Under the draft plan, the paid parking would include 825 on-street spaces and 294 spots in public lots, and drivers would use the Passport system that Anna Maria already contracts with for citation management, per the seed reporting from the Miami Herald. That system would also let the city adjust rates on weekends or during the busy season. City officials say paid parking would relieve congestion by limiting how long and where people can park, while also boosting turnover that could benefit local businesses.
Residents Get a Pass, Neighbors Don't
Anna Maria's resident permit program would offer free parking exclusively to people registered as City of Anna Maria residents, according to the AMI Sun. Non-resident workers and visitors from neighboring communities like Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach, and Manatee County would have to pay hourly rates or purchase special work permits instead — with no reciprocal free parking privileges built into the draft plan for residents of those surrounding towns. Drivers would also owe a $0.65 transaction processing fee on top of the hourly rate, paid directly to vendor Passport Labs Inc. Anna Maria Commissioner Mark Short, who spoke at an August 11 workshop, said the overall goal is to provide reasonable parking for visitors while considering businesses, residents and property owners. Short added that the city needs to address parking changes on the island and that Anna Maria can respond to county pay-to-park plans by setting its own policy. The plan also includes pass-based programs for construction vehicles, residential events and parades, plus the potential to create 130 additional shared parking spaces with local churches.
Why the Rush Before County Beaches Go Paid
The push toward paid parking is driven in part by fears at Anna Maria City Hall that Manatee County will beat them to it. County Board Chair Tal Siddique said in March that the county is evaluating paid parking at island public beaches — including Manatee Public Beach and Coquina Beach — to make maintenance self-sustaining rather than leaning on general tax revenue, describing Manatee County as “the last man standing when it comes to free parking,” according to Your Observer. City officials fear that if county beach lots start charging, non-paying visitors will simply flood Anna Maria's residential streets, worsening congestion at intersections the Sarasota Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization has already flagged as a regional bottleneck.
That MPO designation covers all road approaches to the Gulf Drive and Cortez Road intersection, which the agency labeled a congestion-clustered hotspot, prompting regional homeowner groups to push for paid beach parking as a way to encourage carpooling, the same Your Observer report notes. Traffic backups from island beaches are known to stretch across Anna Maria Island and onto Longboat Key. The county isn't a stranger to overriding local parking rules either: in 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 947, granting Manatee County authority to build a 36-foot-tall parking garage at Manatee Public Beach without needing permits from the City of Holmes Beach, as the Anna Maria Islander detailed at the time. Florida House staff analysis has noted that non-charter counties generally cannot override municipal ordinances without such explicit statutory authority from the Legislature.
Merchants Worry About Pine Avenue Traffic
Local merchants along Pine Avenue, Anna Maria's main commercial corridor of small shops and cafes, have raised concerns that the proposed three- to four-hour time limits and hourly fees could discourage quick errands and hurt retail and dining business, per the Islander's coverage of the August presentation. It's the latest chapter in a years-long tightening of parking rules on the island: back in 2020, the city commission voted 4-0 to eliminate 88 right-of-way parking spaces on the island's northern end near Bean Point, a stretch that has struggled with congestion for years. More recently, in July 2025, commissioners raised standard illegal parking fines from $50 to $75 and handicapped violation fines from $225 to $250, aiming to stop beachgoers from treating tickets as a cheap daily parking fee.
Consultants estimate the paid parking system could generate roughly $25,000 per day, or about $11 million annually, though it remains unclear how those projections hold up once the $0.65 per-transaction fee to Passport Labs is factored in across more than a thousand paid spaces. WSP's draft schedule aims for a final plan by the end of September, with commission adoption targeted around November and a public outreach campaign planned for early 2027. If approved, the Anna Maria City Commission would lead further discussions on parking zones and hourly rates, with the paid parking program potentially launching as soon as March 2027.
Public Workshop Set for Sunday
Anna Maria officials have scheduled a public workshop for 4 p.m. this Sunday, August 31, at The Center of Anna Maria, 407 Magnolia Ave., where community members can weigh in on the parking study before it moves further through the approval process. As of the August 11 workshop, city officials stressed that the plan is not yet final. Open questions remain over whether Manatee County residents will accept paying to park in Anna Maria without resident-style exemptions, and how Pine Avenue's small businesses will adjust if the time limits take effect.
