PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — In a vote this week, Port Canaveral officials more than tripled the fee that off-site parking lots pay to drop people off, and one lot owner told Channel 9's Tim Barber he's now suing before the port kills his business.
Todd Oakey's parking lot caters to cruise ship customers who don't want to pay $120 a week to park at Port Canaveral.
“I will live in a cardboard box before I let someone take us over,” Oakey said.
Port commissioners approved a measure that will prevent more independent lots and raise the port entry fee for current owners from $15 to $50.
“If I don't go up against them, I am going to lose the business,” said Oakey.
Oakey is suing the Canaveral Port Authority Commission, claiming antitrust.
But WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said he is not aware of a legal precedent that would support an antitrust action against a state agency.
Port officials did not return WFTV’s calls, but their consultant is urging commissioners to ban all independent lots from dropping off their customers at the port.
Consultant Michele Krakowski compared the lot owners to people selling cheap concessions outside movie theaters.
“Not only are you allowing that popcorn and soda stand to be on your property, but you are allowing them to be right by your front door,” said Krakowski.
Krakowski said the move is necessary because the port has spent millions on parking construction, yet their parking lots are normally half as full.
Oakey said the movie theater comparison is bogus, because the port is a state agency, not a private company.
“It's a free market, and the customer dictates the price," he said.
Commissioners Thomas Weinberg and Jerry Allender voted against the measures. Allender told WFTV he thinks the commissioners should have been able to see the information before they voted.