The valet service has to go; bring back street parking

They have now expanded the centralized valet service.

There was one valet spot on Grand Avenue, next to the school, which took up about four parking spaces. Now they have another valet location across the street in front of Maya Hatcha, taking away four more spaces! And during the day, no one is using them. Is this for Jaguar? Not sure who would use the valet to go to Starbucks, Sandbar or Maya Hatcha. And ironically the city removed two valuable parking spaces in front of Jaguar when they redid the sidewalks. When the city redid Commodore Plaza, they removed four or more spaces.

Look at this image above, this is about 1 pm on Monday. Lunchtime. Not one car is left with the valet, yet all these spaces are being blocked; a whole block!

At the bottom of this article is contact info for the Miami Parking Authority (MPA) and Commissioner Russell's office. The MPA has been kind to me over the years, even though I have bashed them a lot, but in this case we need to let them know that the valet service is not a good idea. It serves no purpose.

Look at this second image. This is next to the school on Grand Avenue - also empty spaces, about four of them just sitting, being wasted! People are not leaving their cars with the valets.

You drive through the village and all you see are valet stands, yet there are no cars being left!

The hours are: Sunday to Wednesday 10:00 am to 10:00 pm  and Thursday to Saturday 10:00 am to 11:00 pm. The Commodore and Glass and Vine locations will remain opened later, if needed. 

Rates have been raised to $8.00 between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm and $10.00 from 4:00 pm  until closing.  Is someone really going to pay $8.00 (plus tip) to park for a $4.00 coffee at Starbucks?

On Main Highway, they are towing cars, rather than ticketing, where they have now delegated loading zones for trucks. There is no parking anymore! This is not very welcoming to visitors, or locals. We aren't South Beach, we don't need valet services!

One of the contractors working on the new Starbucks location on the corner there at McFarlane and Grand told me that he is not able to park his truck to load and unload material now because the valet chases him away. He came back after hours to unload and a cop made him move because he didn't have a permit to be there working after hours!

I am surprised that merchants aren't complaining. I don't think it's helping them. There was a meeting not too long ago to address the lack of parking and I don't think that valet services all over the Grove, taking up valuable parking spaces is the answer. Most people don't valet, especially during the day; they just keep going and avoid the Grove. 

There's a lot of talk about it on our Facebook page and not one person likes this new valet service. I'm thinking it needs to go.

Some of the comments from residents:

Too many valet stands in such a small area

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I was complaining about it last night. We have lost tons of street parking due to construction. Then we have valet for Strada, Harry’s Pizza, & Glass and Vine. Is it really necessary to have a valet stand take up 4 spots in front of The Barnacle? The Post office has closed their lot of night time parking. In the past few years we have lost over 20 street parking spots.

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Let's look at this whole thing.

1) Taxpayers pay for streets that include parking.

2) Government then takes away parking and rents it to a corporation who then raises prices and then resells it back to taxpayers.

3) Taxpayers pay for the very same parking again.

Does this make sense to anyone?

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Annoying! The other day I wanted to get a quick something from Gap. Drove around the blocks twice (grand ave, around the school, rice st, around cocowalk) to find NO parking. Only VALET. And high cost parking. I drove away to Merrick Park for shopping and free parking. Simply annoying!

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I will not park with Valet. If there is no parking in the Grove at a reasonable price, I just don’t attend events, eat or shop in the Grove. Problem solved. Too bad, the Grove has always been a favorite.

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I know from experience with a family business that parking is a huge issue and problem. If guests can’t find a parking place, they go elsewhere — Merrick Park, for example. Sometimes valet service is the best answer. The other piece of this issue is that if people can’t find a space that is a few steps away from the business, they go elsewhere and refuse to use a parking garage that is a block or two away. So, the businesses are really stuck. There must be a creative solution.

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A pure pain in the neck.

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Coconut Grove is becoming an elitist hole. Be careful, karma is known to be a bitch.

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I will never valet my car. They drive like a--holes on it and steal shit. Then they are not liable for anything. I don't let some people in my family drive my car not gonna let some stranger.

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People are leaving more comments on Facebook, here is the link to the comments left on this story. And here is the link to the comments on the previous story about the valet service.

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Please voice your concerns to the Miami Parking Authority at 305-373-6789 extension 289 or CustomerService@MiamiParking.com

Commissioner Ken Russell krussell@miamigov.com / 305-250-5333 

And you can reach the Grove BID at: 305-461-5506 or director@grovebid.com