Tampa councilwoman will introduce ordinance for residential and business parking on ‘Yellow Brick Row’

While Hope Donnelly listened to Tampa City Council discuss her situation last month, she hoped councilmembers would walk a few steps in her ruby red shoes.

Donnelly, owner of the Rialto Theatre, said that after months of pushback on the new parking meters across five blocks of the city’s “Yellow Brick Row”, she’s been consistently reaching out to both the parking division and council hoping to get at least residential parking.

Council Member Lynn Hurtak told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that although she never received direct communication, she will introduce an ordinance that includes Franklin Street in an existing city permit program. The program, which Hurtak expects will pass, would grant two residential spots for residents and four business spots for storefronts, Hurtak said.

But if complaints were made, even before the meters were activated, why didn’t the permitting happen sooner?

“I asked the parking director (Fed Revolte) why haven’t we done this before… we started putting down the meters and knowing the business owners were concerned and he said ‘Well, it’s because we can’t do it, the ordinance has to be done by council’,” Hurtak said.

Revolte initially said there was no pushback from the community on the meters being installed. When asked about the delay on the Tampa Parking Division’s communication to the council, a spokeswoman said they had no additional information beyond their first statements to CL.

On Dec. 12—nine days after metered parking was activated on Yellow Brick Row—Councilmember Bill Carlson requested a report on businesses at N Franklin Avenue, with the possibility of banning the meters on “Yellow Brick Row.”

Carlson mentioned the concern with small businesses in the area. Hurtak interjected.

“Here is the thing, we went through the exact same thing with Ybor City. They did not lose business because of this. I asked the Ybor Chamber of Commerce. They lost no businesses. I understand that this is difficult, but just like that, we’ve got to give it a shot before we do something,” Hurtak said in the council meeting.

“This is an area that is still developing. It is not like Ybor where there is people and traffic, it is still developing,” Carlson rebutted.

Hurtak added that the demand from parking that came from the overflow in Ybor City, Channelside and Armature Works was pouring into Yellow Brick Row, and that the meters were already placed and activated. She said growth from the surrounding areas might bring traffic into the N Franklin Street businesses.

Elevation Coffee Heights’s bar manager might agree with Hurtak.

Last December, when CL first interviewed employees on Yellow Brick Row, Caleb Wright said his biggest concern were the returning clients that came in for more than coffee. What would they do if parking costs $2 an hour?

“It will definitely make people less inclined to stay here for an extended period of time and hang out with us,” he said.“And that is kind of what we are about, what we do, is hang out with people.”

When CL returned in January, Wright had a different outlook. In fact, he said they are doing better than average.

“Our sales this month actually already surpassed last month’s total. I guess I haven’t noticed a decrease in business,” Wright said.

Kate Swann, owner of the Florida School of Woodwork, said each business will have a different report to hand back to the council; hers will include the fact that the school will have to spend unexpected funds to cover student parking.

“Our students don’t have a place to park for hours on end, they now have to park further away and it’s hard to bring all their tools in,” Swann said. “Obviously as a small business, finding extra money is a hard thing.”

At the end of Dec. 12 meeting, the council decided that the business report for Yellow Brick Row should be brought back on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Before that meeting, however, Hurtak said her plan is to introduce the ordinance for permitting during the Feb. 6 council meeting. Council, she added, will have to move quickly because of new construction happening in that district, and the demand it will have for street parking.

“Could the city have done a bit better with planning for this? Yes, but unfortunately that’s not what occurred, so we are going to do what we can to fix it in the meantime,” Hurtak said.

Studies are usually conducted to determine the best outcome for meters in specific areas such as Ybor City or Channelside. Hurtak added that she does not know if a study on the “Yellow Brick Row” district was conducted prior to the installation of the meters.

Hurtak said she hopes businesses will gain foot traffic due to the new eight-story residential building and YMCA developments.

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