Valet Parking in Downtown

If you have been downtown recently on a Friday or Saturday night, you might have noticed a valet parking operation which sets up shop on South J Street in the first block south of Lake Avenue. As far as I am aware this has gone on for about year. Some people say that they operate on Thursday nights too, usually when there is something going on at the Playhouse.


The following e-mail to Paul Boyer, Laura Hannah and Sharon Jackson bears the date of October 2006. This was while I was still Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Board and probably about the time the valet parking began.


I vaguely remember Laura Hannah acknowledging receipt of my e-mail, but really didn't offer any satisfactory explanation or response to the questions raised in it. Now and then I would ask Sharon Jackson to follow-up on it and we all know that Paul Boyer was about to leave around this time. I resigned from the Planning and Zoning Board mid-December to run for office. Season came and went and they ceased operating.

Well, the valet is back and many of my questions are still valid. Recently, I discovered some other anomalies that make one wonder who is sanctioning this and how.

The first question in the e-mail asks who is running it. From the signs that I took pictures of last Saturday, it's a company (?) by the name of Valet Florida. The next question asks are they properly insured and bonded? We just don't know. The last statement/suggestion in the e-mail talks about a better location for it would be on the side streets, rather than on Lake Avenue. This was addressed, but there are still problems with the location and impact to traffic on Lake Avenue.

The fourth and fifth items in the e-mail require some exploration. This is what I was told by a gentleman involved with operating a business on South J.Street. Apparently, after the "early bird" crowd leaves L'Anjou - around 7 p.m., they leave open on-street parking spaces. As soon as the cars vacate the spaces, the valet operators put this sign up to block the public from parking in PUBLIC spaces.


Notice at the bottom of the sign there is a reference to City of Lake Worth Ordinance 21-33(I). I went to Municode.com and found that section of the Code. However, the list of regulations runs from "A" to"H" and does not include "I" as indicated on the sign. So, I penned the following e-mail query to Pam Lopez, City Clerk:


I asked her if this was the current 21-33 section of the code and if any amendments have been made recently related to valet parking or if any changes have been made to that section at all. Her response was that there has been no ordinance recently regarding valet parking and that Sec. 21-33 is the current code.

THERE IS NO "I" AS INDICATED ON THE SIGN! We have a situation where someone is preventing people from parking in otherwise public parking spaces and charging for the service to park their car in public spaces. And, they are citing a part of the City of Lake Worth Code of Ordinances that at worst doesn't exist and at best isn't available for the public to inspect.

Back to my story about what is happening on weekend nights on our downtown streets. After the barricades go up, the valet allows cars to park in those spaces when the occupants pay $5 . I understand that if people protest - and I hear that they do - they actually move the barricade and let them park in the space anyway. When asked by this person who operates a business on J Street why they are preventing people from parking in PUBLIC parking spaces, the valet pointed to the sign and the referenced ordinance. Then, he said that, "Don't you think it classes up the downtown to have valet parking?" and the business owner responded "No, what I see you doing is chasing people away from my business!"

Meanwhile, on Lake Avenue, traffic is backing up in the first block east of Dixie - not a welcoming image at the entrance to our downtown. Imagine waiting in a queue on Lake Avenue for a while, then being strong-armed to pay $5 for an otherwise PUBLIC space that you could have found yourself without a valet. Wouldn't your time be better spent looking for a FREE public space on your own anywhere in the downtown that is a legal parking space - without a valet "classing things up"? Besides the spaces on South J Street, they park cars here, there and everywhere - probably sometimes on private property. Do they have an arrangement with those property owners?

What should happen with a valet operation in our downtown is that the operator should lease an unencumbered parking lot in the general area (the parking lot of the First Baptist Church, between L and M Streets, comes to mind). The entire operation could then be moved to the middle of the downtown (L Street) and the valet could run back and forth to that parking lot. Then we would actually be adding to the supply of parking in the downtown - not taking away from it and suddenly making people pay for public parking spaces.

Here is an image of the valet stand with the sacred seal of the City of Lake Worth prominently displayed on it - where is the money going for this and how is the City sanctioning it? How is this helping our downtown businesses?

A view of J Street with the cones in front of public parking spaces: