SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Business owners on St. Armands Circle say parking problems started long before the St. Armands Parking Garage was ever built. According to the city of Sarasota, the parking division wasn’t breaking even before the garage opened in 2019.
MacDonald said that in 2015, he and other business owners struck a deal with the city to build the St. Armands garage. The 20-year bond referendum charges businesses based on their square footage.
MacDonald pays $12,000 a year, nearly $250,000 over 20 years, for the garage. He said business owners agreed to the cost because they believed in the area’s future, but said the city hasn’t delivered on its end of the deal…