Collier negotiates with Naples, might stop selling beach stickers to non-residents

Collier County might stop selling beach stickers to non-residents as it tries to hash out a parking deal with Naples.

The county sells the stickers, good for free parking at any beach in the county or city, for $50 a year. The stickers are free for residents.

But the county might be losing money on the program. It sold just under 10,000 stickers to non-residents in 2016, raking in $500,000. But if those beachgoers had paid meters by the hour, the county could have raised an estimated $1 million, according to a county study.

By doing away with the stickers for non-residents, the county and city could bring in another $500,000 a year, money that could be used to help ease the city's concerns that the county isn't paying its fair share for free resident parking at city beaches, according to the study.

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The Naples City Council and county commissioners have been negotiating a new parking deal for almost a year.

The county pays the city $1 million a year to allow county residents to park at city beaches for free. Both sides have said the deal is unfair to the city and that the county should pay more. The county has offered to increase the payments to $1.25 million a year. Naples City Manager Bill Moss has asked for $1.5 million.

Part of the problem is the city has done a better job than the county of building parking and beach access points, said County Commissioner Penny Taylor.

"The county has been woefully negligent by not providing access to the beaches," Taylor said.

Naples was designed around public beaches. No matter how valuable and exclusive beachfront property has become, or how rich the neighborhoods around it, the city has made sure that just about every street in Naples leads to a public beach with public parking.

Outside the city, Collier County has allowed condos and gated communities to keep the public out and privatize stretches of beach.

With fewer places to park or get to the beach in the county, more pressure is put on the small side roads in the city, Taylor said.

"Because of conscious decisions made years ago, you can see now that north of the Beach Club, the beach started to close down," Taylor said. "I wish the county had been more forward-thinking."

Taylor said she is confident the county and city will reach a deal to keep parking free for county residents at city beaches.

Commissioners could decide Tuesday whether they want to accept Moss' offer of $1.5 million or put in a counter-offer.

A proposed deal hasn't been brought yet to the Naples City Council, and Mayor Bill Barnett said he couldn't say how far apart the two sides are.

"It's a conversation," Barnett said.