Downtown streets might have a new look if the Boca Grande Community Planning Panel has its way. But a cash-strapped Lee County would have to agree and then come up with the money to make the changes happen.
These changes include erecting a stone “monument” landscaped sign at Fifth Street, eliminating diagonal parking on the east side of Park Avenue between Third and Fourth Streets – a move that would eliminate up to 11 existing spaces – elevated pedestrian crossings and creation of downtown “loading zones.”
The proposals were presented to the panel on January 29 by traffic consultant Ted Treesch.
Dolphin Cove on Park Avenue is at the center of several of these proposed changes, including a loading zone and golf cart parking-only area directly in front of the store. Several panel and audience members expressed their concern with the proposal, noting that a more appropriate place for the loading zone would be in front of the park next to Hudson’s.
“Hudson’s takes the most deliveries, and lots of trucks already park in front of that area,“ panel member Dave McHugh said. “We don’t want to take up parking spaces in front of businesses that don’t use those loading zones.”
Panel chairman Lynne Seibert suggested that a pedestrian walkway also be created in front of Hudson’s that would connect Park Avenue, the bike path and East Railroad Avenue shops.
“As tourist traffic increases, and I’m sure it will, you’re going to have significant groups of people walking around the village,” she said. “Think Bar Harbor in the summertime. We want to make a pleasant experience for visitors.”
Bar Harbor is a resort community in Maine.
Loose Caboose parking would also be affected, as Treesch recommended that the parking on the south side of the building, where the restaurant’s outdoor seating is, be striped as parallel parking for vehicles and golf cart parking, and that the bike path crossing there, as well as at 3rd Street and 5th Street, be better marked.
Another change proposed through the study is to have parallel parking replace the diagonal parking on the east side of the block between 3rd and 4th streets. Selected parallel spots would be marked for golf cart parking as well.
Treesch originally said that there would only be five to seven spaces that would be taken away with that system, but panel member Lyman Randall disagreed and said he had counted the spaces illustrated on Treesch’s diagram and found a difference of eight to nine spots.
Smith said he also had a count of his own, a difference of seven in one block and three in another, giving a difference of 10.
“If you go that direction, after eliminating parking in front of the Loose Caboose and Pink Pony (Dolphin Cove), you’ll have a fairly large deficit of car parking,” Randall said. “If it stays the same ratio of golf carts and cars, we’re going to have to find additional spaces.”
With the current diagonal parking on Palm Avenue between 3rd and 4th streets, there are 28 spaces on the east side of the road. Parking was changed to diagonal by the county a number of years ago at the request of downtown merchants.
Treesch suggested that parking in front of the Loose Caboose could instead be striped for golf cart and vehicle parking, and parking in front of Dolphin Cove marked as parallel, placing a loading zone southward to the cluster of newspaper boxes.
“When it gets down to making final decisions, you’ve got to be sure that you’ve got at least the same number of parking spots,” Randall said. “Otherwise, we’ll lose business owners’ support.”
Raised crosswalks were also part of Treesch’s plan for all four pedestrian crossings at the 4th Street intersection with Park Avenue.
Treesch proposed that a 4-inch raised pedestrian area, made of brick or asphalt, could be used as a traffic-calming device and would be very visible to drivers as a pedestrian area.
“It becomes a focal feature of the area, and is becoming very common in downtown urban areas,” he said. “A raised intersection is not necessary, but we need to at least add some crosswalks.”
Treesch explained that when the utility project went through the downtown area last summer, the company that dug up the road did not replace the striping on the roadways when they were done.
“There are a lot of parking spaces and roadway striping for pedestrian crossings that are not there now,” he said. “That’s part of the confusion.”
It was also proposed that the post office drop box be moved one block south, to the east side of West Railroad Avenue south of 3rd Street behind where the Catholic church rectory is. According to Treesch’s study, this move would get drop box traffic out of the center of activity and alleviate traffic issues at the main downtown intersection.
Another change on 3rd Street would be to remove the stop sign for traffic heading east and west, and place it instead on West Railroad Avenue.
The panel also discussed the placement of a “monument sign” at the 5th Street and Gasparilla Road intersection for motorists heading southbound on Park Avenue. A monument sign is on a solid base, usually made of stone, that will indicate to drivers where the public beaches, shopping and historic districts are.
“It will be a low-key, low-scale sign,” Smith said. “Our intent is to give better directions, as well as to consolidate signs.”
Smith said when drivers are coming south on Gasparilla Road approaching 5th Street, the existing signs are placed before the stop sign which makes it harder for drivers to read them. He also suggested that the proposed landscaped sign would alleviate some downtown traffic. Visitors who didn’t need to go downtown could be redirected through better signage.
Treesch also suggested that the stop sign at 5th Street and Gasparilla Road headed southbound be placed farther back on Gasparilla Road to aid in driver’s visibility.
According to Smith, one of the biggest issues of village parking could be stopped by business owners.
“Employees parking in prime spots need to be stopped,” he said. “If everyone’s going to be helping everyone, the business owners have to have a part in it. They can play a big part by getting their employees to not take the prime spots around their businesses.”
The panel approved a motion for Seibert, Treesch and Smith to continue fine-tuning the presentation to give to Lee County, upon public comment that will be received at the workshop scheduled for some time after the panel’s next February 19 meeting.
In regard to Lee County agreeing to fund the proposed projects, Smith said that the biggest chunk of money spent would more than likely be on Gilchrist Avenue to landscape and design parking areas, and that asking for even more money would be difficult.
Smith told panel members that it’s unlikely Lee County has money to fund the projects proposed by Treesch.
Randall agreed.
“These are all very interesting ideas,” Randall said. “You can take all these recommendations to the county and they will tell you ‘Sure! Which one do you want to spend the money on?’”
