Parking problems for Winter Park could mean no new restaurants

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — In bustling Winter Park, you can find stores, restaurants and lots of lush outdoor space.

But there’s one thing many people cannot find.

“We just need to do something about the parking,” said Winter Park resident Dee Morgan as she walked several blocks from her car to the store with boxes in hand. “We should have parking. At 10 o’clock in the morning, there should be parking.”

The chore of circling the block until a parking spot opens is a familiar one for the popular Orange County neighborhood.

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A new parking study by the city identified drivers have the biggest parking problems along Park Avenue, Orange Avenue and Hannibal Square.

The study recommends paying for parking, adding valet service, or having “shared parking,” which might include an office allowing a restaurant to use its spaces on nights or weekends.

There’s also a recommendation to ban new restaurants from opening until there’s a parking solution.

Voters in a WFTV Facebook poll were mostly in favor of the proposal to stop restaurants from opening.

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After a parking study in 2013, leaders started a bike valet program, an employee parking program and the city improved signs.

LINK: Winter Park's parking study

Cox Media Group