Parking at Flagler Beach has always been free. That is about to change.
The Flagler Beach City Commission voted Thursday night to select a vendor to operate a paid parking program along State Road A1A and in city lots — a decision that puts the small beach town on track to charge visitors for parking for the first time in its history.
City Manager Dale Martin says property owners won’t be left out of pocket.
“That’s an adamant direction from the commission — if you’re a property owner in Flagler Beach, you’ll get at least one free pass,” Martin said. “And that’ll be part of the discussion: will they get one pass, two passes? And how do you handle businesses and their employees?”
The city has not yet set a parking rate or finalized how many free passes residents will receive. A launch is targeted for mid-2027.
Visitors and businesses already pushing back
Not everyone is on board. Amelia Hurley, who was visiting the beach Thursday, said the cost can add up fast.
“Sometimes I come for like three hours and I have to pay the whole thing,” Hurley said. “I got a ticket one time — paid it late. It was like $115.”
Local businesses are worried too. Shey Gray, who works at the Rusty Pelican along A1A, fears paid parking will drive customers away before they ever walk through the door.
“I think it’s going to affect the business, because a lot of people aren’t going to want to pay for parking,” Gray said. “And then come in and pay for food?”
Decades in the making
The vote Thursday didn’t come out of nowhere. Flagler Beach has been debating paid parking for more than 30 years. A parking committee met 26 times between 2013 and 2015 and submitted a report recommending hundreds of spaces convert to paid parking — a report that was ultimately ignored.
The conversation was revived again this spring, when commissioners made paid parking a top priority at an April goal-setting session. The city sent out a request for qualifications in June, drawing eight interested vendors. Four were selected to present to the commission in August: One Parking, Peninsula Parking Partners, LAZ Parking, and Passport Labs.
What comes next
With a vendor now selected, the city will move toward contract negotiations. Commissioners still have major decisions ahead — including setting rates, defining which zones will be enforced, establishing hours of operation, and finalizing the resident permit process.
One thing is already decided: Flagler Beach property owners will not pay to park in their own city.
For everyone else — including the thousands of Palm Coast residents who make up the majority of Flagler Beach’s visitors according to Flagler County Tourist Development Council data — a trip to the beach will soon come with a new cost.