In an effort to ease a parking crunch at its popular Par 3 Golf Course, the town is proposing to add eight spaces to the visitor parking lot.
In a presentation to the Town Council at its Aug. 9 meeting, Public Works Director Paul Brazil shared plans to add four sets of double spaces to the facility’s east parking lot, bringing the total number of spaces there to 82.
Town officials said the new spots would help address a parking shortage at the town-operated golf course, which drew a record number of participants last year.
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More than 52,000 rounds of golf were played at The Par 3 during the 2021 fiscal year. That total is 34% higher than the course’s previous play high in 2019.
The Palm Beach Par 3, at 2345 S. Ocean Blvd., is busiest during the winter season, especially at lunchtime when golfers and guests gather at the on-site Al Fresco restaurant.
“In season, we have pressure points,” Assistant Town Manager Carolyn Stone told the Daily News. “We have golf course traffic along with the restaurant, at lunch, and it’s really busy. At night, the golf course isn’t open, so it’s a couple of hours in the middle of the day.”
Adding eight parking spots would help ease parking congestion during the facility’s busiest hours, Stone added.
“Sometimes people will try to pull their car right off A1A into the swale on the grass, and we don’t want that,” she said. “Adding parking will free up enough room in the lot during peak times to get the cars in.”
The town’s Recreation and Public Works departments have been looking at the parking issue for some time, Brazil said, and worked together to develop options to address it.
West Palm Beach-based engineering consultant Chen Moore and Associates was brought in to evaluate those options and look at other possibilities.
The consultant determined that the most efficient and least costly alternative would be to add parking to the east parking lot, Brazil said.
Because changes would be made to the facility and on the east side of South Ocean Boulevard, the plans would require approval from the town’s Architectural Commission.
Stone said the parking plans have not yet been placed on the commission’s agenda, and it might be a few months before the board will have the opportunity to review them.
If the commission approves the plans, they would go back to the council for further consideration and final approval.
The additional spots, which would take over one of the two cart paths by the 9th hole, are proposed to be doubled in depth for valet parking, with minimal impacts to the existing landscaping and golf course operations, according to town documents.
The spots will serve as an important test for the functionality of tandem parking, Stone said.
“This is a good way for us to experiment,” she said. “It doesn’t cost a lot of money. It’s not very invasive. It’s not like you’re building a whole new parking lot. It’ll help alleviate the pressure.”
Project costs are estimated at $33,845, which includes design, review, approval and construction, according to town documents.
If approved, the additional spaces would be the first of many that the town could install at the Par 3 facility, which opened in 1961.
The town has held discussions about refurbishing the facility’s maintenance building, which sits on the west side of South Ocean Boulevard. The building’s parking lot could be reconfigured as part of a larger renovation project, Stone said.
Currently, the Par 3 staff park their vehicles there, and the site also is used for golf course deliveries.
“This has all evolved over 40 years time,” Stone said. “If you’re going to redo the building, then you’re going to look at your ingress and egress for parking.”
Council members were supportive of the additional parking spots, and asked town staff to continue looking at options for further expansion.
“I’m very comfortable with this,” council member Bobbie Lindsay said. “This is a small thing. I would just encourage you not to wait too long to start looking at the other side. I just see we’re getting more visitors, and we’re going to have a big construction project down there. I would start to look at that for the future and bring it back to us. Don’t wait until it’s desperate. Even with these eight spaces, I know how hard it is to park there.”
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.