Siesta residents win parking ban on Avenida Milano, Madera

Sarasota County commissioners voted today to approve banning parking on the south side of Avenida Milano and Avenida Madera.

The vote comes nearly a year after residents of the streets petitioned the county to ban parking in April 2014. The request was approved by the Traffic Advisory Council in June 2014, but was delayed to move to the board to allow county staff to examine the parking problem during a busier month.

However, when the item was presented to the commissioners at the Tuesday, Jan. 13, they requested more information. Commissioners Alan Maio and Christine Robinson told staff to get comments from Siesta Key Association and Siesta Key Village Association, and Robinson also requested that the county’s emergency services staff review the streets and determine if street parking did, in fact, create a safety hazard.

“You’ve been on a bit of a long road – no pun intended – thank you for your patience,” Commissioner Alan Maio said at today’s meeting.

Eileen Parkinson, a resident of Avenida Milano who appeared at the Jan. 13 meeting, spoke again to the board today to urge them to approve the prohibition, but thanked the county for doing its due diligence to collect all the needed information.

“I appreciate the commissioners concern to have all the information – which was lacking a few weeks ago,” she said.