OCALA, Fla. – On Thursday, Ocala city leaders hosted a town hall to discuss incoming changes as leaders hope to get results for residents and visitors as the area continues to grow.
“We finally have the problems I have always dreamed of us for 10 years, dreamed of us of having,” said Ocala City Manager Peter Lee during the meeting.
Lee went on to talk about those problems being Ocala’s rapid growth as he and other leaders say they now see a demand for change and development.
Rachel Fautsch, who is the community outreach manager for Ocala, said, “It’s frequent, it’s almost every day I get some sort of input from either a visitor of the downtown or a business in the downtown area saying their guests are frustrated, they can’t find any susceptible parking.”
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Fautsch said that is what is set to change as Thursday’s town hall meeting addressed parking as well as cleanliness.
The city said it’s now in the beginning stages of developing an underground trash system.
“The dumpster will be underground, and it will have a handle on it, and it’ll take the same size bags. We’re really excited about the fact that it’s a much cleaner look,” Lee said.
Another change coming to the downtown is how much people can expect to pay for parking. Historically, it’s been 50 cents for metered parking across the board.
That’s soon going to change depending on where you park. If you are north of Highway 40, it’ll be 75 cents, and south of 40 would be $1.25.
“We’re taking a holistic approach to the downtown area,” said Fautsch.
During the town hall meeting, Fautsch announced more than 1,000 new parking spaces to meet demand.
There is set to be an increase in lot and metered parking, plus a new parking garage set to replace Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist church.
“The whole process is a behavior change,” said Fautsch. ”We’re creating this behavior change and idea changes that we won’t be able to park directly in front of the business that you used to be able to park directly in front of because now there are lots of business people are trying to get to.”
Alongside the improved infrastructure, News 6 got a heads-up that people can expect more recreational activities, too.
“We have a skate park we’re going to build this year, so we think this is going to be one of the best skate parks in the state,” Lee said.
Demolition of the Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church is set to take place sometime this summer.
The parking garage’s construction is set to take about three months to build after the building has been taken down.
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