CAPE CORAL
You may soon have to pay to park at the Cape Coral Yacht Club. This is an idea proposed for new ways to finance the expensive yacht club renovation project, and the only solution proposed so far.
No matter the weather, people always come to the Cape Coral Yacht Club, set up their beach chairs and take in the view.
Tom Wolansky likes it simple, starting with convenience. “It won’t kill all day going through traffic to get here,” Wolansky said.
Sometimes it takes time to find a parking space. This is one of the reasons why Cape Coral has planned renovations to the yacht club, including a new parking lot.
When it opens, parking may no longer be free. The city is offering a $2 per hour fee.
“It would be painful. Eight to $10 a day we came here. We should think about it. We could ride bikes,” Denise Frederick said.
If the city council agrees, parking revenue will be used to pay for parking and other planned renovations. It’s all part of a proposed funding plan where the city is paying back the $60 million costs over 20 years.
“Our wish as a council is that we don’t want to use general fund money if we don’t have to. So if we can be creative in another way to pay for the upgrades, you know, we want to at least take a look,” said Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter.
If approved, it frees up $10.9 million in GO bonds that will help pay for other ongoing park projects like the Yellow Fever Creek Preserve. A project affected by a significant inflation of costs, the offer going from 3.9 M$ to more than 6 M$.
“We know two million just there for a park. It was beyond what we had expected. So 10.9 would be spread across all parks,” Gunter said.
Nothing has been decided yet, but if the city charges for parking, that won’t stop Fredrick from coming here on his visits. “We have to pay for parking, because what other beach is here? Nothing,” Fredrick said.
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