Land swap plan would provide beach parking

FORT LAUDERDALE — Beachgoers could find it easier to land a parking space across from the ocean if the city approves a proposed land swap.

The swap also would help relieve congestion on the beach near Las Olas Boulevard because the new spaces would be closer to Sunrise Boulevard.

Commissioners on Tuesday are scheduled to vote on a deal that would swap the city’s current Sebastian Street parking lot near the Casablanca Cafe for a vacant lot 11 blocks to the north. The new site is at State Road A1A and Vistamar Street, directly south of the Bonnet House Museum and Gardens.

The new site has the potential for hundreds of beach parking spaces, but the number would depend on whether the city moves forward with a parking garage there and how big the garage would be. Also, the 79 spaces on Sebastian would still be available to the public.

The city would continue operating the current lot while the developer, Barefoot Contessa LLC, seeks approvals for a project there. The agreement requires that any new development would have to include the same amount of public spaces.

The agreement also provides for continuing 43 spaces reserved for valet parking at the Casablanca Cafe.

The northern site, once home to the now-demolished Natchez Plantation Apartments, was appraised at $25.9 million, versus the $23.6 million appraisal for the city’s property.

Despite that apparent advantage for the city, Commissioner Dean Trantalis said he wants the developer to increase the number of public spaces to better serve the Sebastian Street portion of the beach.

“We need a minimum of 200 spaces,” Trantalis said.

Mayor Jack Seiler said he likes the proposal but said some details are still being negotiated.

Elsewhere on the beach, the city plans to do away with an A1A parking lot at Las Olas Boulevard and build a parking garage to the west next to the Las Olas Boulevard bridge.

City officials have been interested in the Natchez site for years as a way to encourage more people to take Sunrise Boulevard to the beach and create more activity in that area.

The site also would provide convenient parking to North Beach Village, known for its rehabilitated 1950s-era motels.