Over 10 years ago, the City of Tampa adopted Ordinance 27-178 governing public and private parking lots. According to the Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association, the city is not enforcing the ordinance.
Specifically, Section 27-178(c)(1) requires any public or private parking lot operator to have at least one employee on duty on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 pm until the last car leaves or 4 am, whichever is earlier.
Last year, Tampa Code Enforcement visited every parking lot in Ybor City to ensure that the lots were operating according to code and to bring non-compliant lots into compliance.
The Historic Ybor Neighborhood Civic Association contends that some parking lot operators are still violating the parking lot ordinance. They have created an online petition to pressure City Code Enforcement to enforce the city ordinances governing paid parking lots, require attendants during weekend evenings, and provide appropriate fences and ADA parking spaces, among other things.
This June, the City will consider strengthening the ordinance to require state-licensed security guards for paid lots Thursday through Saturday from 10 pm to 4 am and relaxing other parts of the ordinance regarding the appearance of paid lots. When that information becomes available, this article will be updated with the date and time of the meeting.
Three primary organizations provide parking services in Ybor City: the City of Tampa Parking Division, Evolution Parking, and 717 Parking. The City of Tampa and Evolution already provide licensed security guards at their lots during the proscribed hours. 717 Parking agrees that security is important, but it doesn’t want to pay. Instead, it wants the city or the local Community Redevelopment Agency to provide the security service.
We are curious to know what the public and private parking lot operators are doing to follow the ordinance and secure their lots Thursday through Friday between 10 pm and 4 am. We set up an Instagram account @myyborparking. If you notice an unattended paid parking lot during the proscribed hours, please post a picture with the date and time. We will collect the information, provide it to City Code Enforcement, and present it at the meeting.
