Madeira Beach city leaders are moving ahead with a plan to let property owners along Gulf Boulevard and in John’s Pass Village turn lots left empty by Hurricanes Helene and Milton into temporary paid parking.
At an Aug. 26 City Commission meeting, commissioners reached a consensus on a three-year operating window that would end Dec. 31, 2029 — a year longer than city staff had proposed.
The idea is to give quick financial relief to owners who lost buildings in the 2024 storms. By running temporary lots, they can generate income to cover taxes and maintenance while they decide how to rebuild. The added spaces would also ease the gridlock caused by a shortage of beach parking.
To keep the setups affordable, the city would relax its commercial construction standards. Owners would not have to pave entire lots, install stormwater drainage systems or add extensive landscaping. Lots would still have to meet basic safety requirements, including paved accessible spaces that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, proper driveways and a 4-foot solid fence or hedge buffer wherever a lot abuts residential property.
Kathryn Younkin, the city’s senior planner, said the reduced standards are meant to cut red tape for owners still digging out from the storms.
“The ordinance was written specifically to allow temporary parking lot uses in two areas of the city for properties immediately adjacent to Gulf Boulevard and properties located within the John’s Pass Village Activity Center,” Younkin said. “This ordinance has reduced standards. ... You’re not being required to pave anything other than the accessible spaces. There’s a lot of reductions to what you have to provide compared to a permanent parking lot.”
Marci Forbes, the community development director, said the temporary permits buy owners time to recover without rushing into long-term decisions.
“The goal of this is kind of an easier, short route to give a temporary timeframe to start maybe looking at the heavier lift,” Forbes said. “The goal has been really to give property owners who had not planned to lose use of their property, who lost their building, just give them the opportunity to breathe, and think, and not make decisions trying to be reactive.”
Private lots will not erase the city’s broader parking shortage, Forbes told the commission, but they offer immediate help while the city prepares a comprehensive parking study. Younkin noted two legal constraints: Florida law bars local governments from capping the hourly rates charged on private lots, and state emergency rules prohibit temporary permits from renewing automatically.
During public comment, residents and property owners urged the commission to build a permanent framework rather than set an expiration date.
Property owner Bob Bello showed photos of a private lot filled to capacity at noon on an ordinary Sunday. Visitor demand along Gulf Boulevard far outstrips the available spaces, he said, and the city’s master plan already encourages flexible off-street parking.
“Rather than allowing paid off-street parking along Gulf Boulevard only as a temporary use that expires ... I believe the city should consider a permanent regulatory framework for standalone parking along Gulf Boulevard,” Bello said. “Suppose the city approves a parking facility, it has safe access, it’s landscaped, it complies with every condition, neighbors aren’t adversely impacted, and people are using it. ... What happens on Jan. 1, 2029, that makes it bad?”
Homeowner Mike Wyckoff pointed to the finances facing landowners nearly two years after Helene came ashore.
“We all thought hurricane recovery would be a year. Here we are two years later. We’re not anywhere near done,” Wyckoff said. “If the owner doesn’t have the financial resources right now to develop the property, how does eliminating a source of cash flow help that owner in any way to develop the resources necessary other than fire-selling a property that they have no ability to redevelop?”
Resident Andrea Bello said parking shortages spill directly into neighborhoods when visitors circle in search of a space.
“A parking shortage doesn’t make cars disappear,” she said. “When someone can’t find a parking space, they don’t necessarily turn around and drive home. They keep looking. They drive up and down Gulf Boulevard, turn onto side streets, circle blocks, and look for spaces in residential areas. ... A properly located private parking lot can act as a pressure relief valve, keeping visitor parking in the commercial corridor.”
Staff had suggested a two-year window. Several commissioners said owners need longer to recoup setup and permitting costs.
“Two years may be too short if we are looking at a bigger picture,” Commissioner Housh Ghovaee said. “Hurricane Helene was two years ago and it just seems like yesterday. ... Spending money, landscaping, wheel stops, permitting, and this and that. So why don’t we increase that to let’s say four years?”
The commission settled on three. The city would keep full code enforcement authority, requiring owners to correct any nuisance or safety violation within 15 days of notice or lose the permit.
“I think a compromise of three (years) is a good compromise and then following through,” Mayor Anne Marie Brooks said.
The proposal goes to the Planning Commission on Sept. 14, then to the City Commission for a first reading in October, with a final vote set for Nov. 18. If it passes, owners could apply for temporary permits right away.