Resident and non-resident year-round passes can be purchased. (*)

Letter from city manager arrived in mailbox today.

Will be discussed at the next few city council meetings.

(*) Clarification: The letter says (residents can) "obtain an annual pass at no additional cost."

I added the italics in additional above. I understand that now to mean "nothing in addition to the taxes you're already paying."

The letter also says that applies to any City resident (those that reside within the City limits of SB). I suppose if you're a renter, but have a local DL or utility bill showing you live in the city, they assume you're paying property taxes via what your landlord adds to the rent.

Edited: 02/27/2023 at 08:53 AM by CurtisEflush

Where does satellite begin and end? I've lived here forever, and I'm still not sure where one town ends and another begins.




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I was right.

Edited: 02/22/2023 at 05:30 AM by Cole

North edge of Montecito to Patrick SFB is unincorporated Brevard. Basically Hightower is Satellite and Perkins isn't.

parking meters? ...Let's see they spent $200K for a lame sk8 park rebuild; cost Sat bch a ton of dough, wonder what they will do with the new bucket of money...build a bike path with speed bumps every 30 feet ? Ok rant over on the waste of 200K, parking meters blow, so happy they did not do it at Paravirus Beach even if it draws more crowd w/o them

Edited: 02/22/2023 at 11:58 AM by SurferMic

Read their lips: more new taxes!
All those concessions to developers and mcmansion builders for low usage fees for schools, roads and infrastructure gotta be paid by somebody, right repiglican doofs and their free-dumb?
that somebody being us

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It's a democratic hoax

The means Satellite has backed the condos at Hightower, and will soon be making it a private beach? Unless you luck into one of the few spot at the park itself, of course.

And chophop, I was surfing Pet Den and Lum's in the 80's.

P.S. Cocoa Beach has remove the meters and swapped it all to internet based collection. Our yearly passes are still twenty bucks.

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I was right.

Edited: 02/24/2023 at 04:42 AM by Cole

Vero Beach's useless beaches remain free and the city might even add some spots at South Beach.

Riddle Me this as a threadripper:

Parking Pass for CB:
Cocoa Beach =20 bucks/ Cocoa Beach address (county) =70 bucks/ Cape Canaveral= 20 bucks. WTF Over? Yes Seriously.

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www.happyponysurf.com

Melbeach proper, not south that gets called melbeach but isn't, all metered now. County parks still free. Wondering how long?

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One of the biggest factors that went into Mel Bch's decision was the incredible amount of vandalism that occurred every weekend to the bathrooms and showers at Ocean Park and the abuse of the residents who neighbored the end of street parks. We were spending $20K/year to fix the toilets and showers alone. (We also spend about $17K/yr for lifeguards at Ocean Park which mainly benefits visitors since few locals use that park.) The vandalism was unbelievable and the women were as bad as the men. We had feces smeared on the bathroom walls and diapers flushed down toilets in the women's restrooms regularly and shower heads broken completely off almost every weekend and many weekdays. The residents near the parking areas had people peeing and puking and leaving trash and parking well into their yards. It was freaking amazing. Take my word for it, I witnessed a lot of it. If Sat Bch is experiencing the same, I don't blame them. It's sad, but, as usual, assholes drive these things.

You dont need to know where satellite beach city limits are. just stay up there where you belong.

For you newbies, Hightower to Balsa Bill's. For longtime locals (who probably already know the city limits), Capehart to Va Fried Chicken.

as far as I could ride - N or S on my stingray bike & good one chopola

Where is the good fried chicken beachside now?

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

^Finally, something useful. I've been driving all the way to Marsh Landing in Fellsmere. They have free parking too.

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I went to Marsh Landing twice in the past 3 months and had fried chicken both times. I love fried chicken, but this was flat lousy; overcooked and dried out. Been there several times and it is a cool place. Took my granddaughter because I really thought she'd like it, but I won't be back. Lousy sides, too.

If somebody knows of a really good fried chicken place, let me know. Mrs. Casullo owned Va Fried many years ago and it was great. Maryland Fried, where Nippon Thai is now (or maybe the Century 21 office, can't remember which one was that and which was Burger Chef) was really good, too. Then Mr. Mann (former dean at DeLaura) opened Mann's Jiffy Mart and he had really good chicken. Been a while since I had good fried chicken.

Dang really? That's disappointing to hear. Couple local favorites have taken a slide since covid.

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Yeah, sad as it is such a cool place. Still has good pie though - had peach one time and coconut cream the other. Both still delicious.

WG:
Where is the good fried chicken beachside now?


The Exxon Station on the corner at Ocean Ave intersection in Melbourne Beach. No joke!

Edited: 03/01/2023 at 11:32 AM by matt_t

It is good, but expensive. I was in there the other day and it was over $10 for four tenders. Godd chicken, but your really have to want it.

I will have to abstain. Wife is a 73 Satellite grad from off Desoto. I'm a card carrying Satellite Beach needs more chickens and not a motel shirt and sticker founder.

Interesting. I graduated from SHS in 73, too.

It passed

Edited: 03/17/2023 at 04:08 AM by whitey

It passed.... that's not surprising. But remember, it's a fee, not a tax.

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I was right.

I sense sarcasam. So I apologize if I have you wrong. But please explain why you think its a tax?

I use to work at Virginia Fried Chicken. 1983.

The issue in Satellite is fraud, waste, and abuse in the elected officials. In other words, they are corrupt as hell. They are catering to developers and probably lining their pockets while doing so. It will be interesting to see how some of the ongoing fights play out, but I fear they are going to succeed in turning us into south Florida.

Edited: 02/25/2023 at 05:39 AM by RiddleMe

It is amazing to me that this round of local politicos have decided to do just that - turn us into S. FL. Who the hell wants that other than the officials in Melbourne, Palm Bay and Sat Beach and, maybe IHB? I cannot believe we bribe companies to come here and then say, "Well, we need to give up our way of life or else they won't come." What does this do for the current residents? (Rhetorical question - Nothing) I have sat in many meetings with these "leaders", including the leader of the port authority and Northrup Grumman and the head of the EDC (Linda W), and they spew a lot of baloney, but, in the end, they just kind of grin. They always talk about jobs, but they don't hire local, they bring their workforce from somewhere else. And, when the term of the bribe (oops, economic incentives) are up, they threaten to leave and dump their workforce on our unemployment rolls on us if we don't give them more. I have lived in Brevard County since 1959 and it is LOST. The battle is over and the end is obvious - we will be just like Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.

CASH RULES EVERYTHING AROUND ME!!!! DOLLA DOLLA BILLS YO!!! Parks in the 321 were beyond max compacity yesterday!!

Causeway passes?

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I have mixed feelings about this. First, the letter said parking passes would be free for city residents (if you pay SB property taxes). The funding seems a bit like "cup the ball". General fund, move it here, now which hand is it in etc. I do agree that the influx of people need to pay. Local beach access I use has exploded since covid. The amount of people and trash on a weekend is frankly out of control compared to what it was even pre-covid. From that standpoint, I like the idea. However, in general I could rattle of a list a mile long of examples of how the city council are absolute morons in their planning and execution of what they prioritize for the city initiatives. First off, there is no one that represents people that feel like I do - of which, there are many. I want basic services addressed for the least amount of taxes and the least number of rules/laws. The city has the opposite approach - create dozens of committees constantly looking into things they can meddle in and spend money on. Lets name a few of their gems - creating an unenforceable city law for masks, making a law to keep people from congregating on the cross-overs so technically a family standing together would be in violation, the A1A crosswalks, closing the beach during covid and trying to enforce it with police, stopping the yard waste pickup that allowed you to put palm fronds on the ground in a pile (have to now try and stuff them all in the stupid green can), building out new crossovers that didnt need it in the first place (way before the hurricane damage) when wood cost was at an all time HIGH, implementing paid fire permits, running a cop up and down the beach on a 4 wheeler, their czar like parking laws for boats when we live on an island, taking away a youth practice field to put a retention pond and fountain. I could go on and on. It's the same old codgers that have been in city gov't for 40+years. How old is Mark Brimmer and how many times can the guy be on the board? Make no mistake if you live here, any new blood looks to the old blood for direction and advice so they still steer the city in the same old codger direction. Will be interesting to see how this paid parking plays out.

From what it read , they are going to vote on it , my problem is pelican & High tower parks, there is no payment for parking permits just need free permit ,and then side streets you have to pay if non resident, 75/yearly fee , free to locals ,but the big bulk of the money that they would make would be at these parks but since the county owns them they can't charge instead they just want you to get pass to park free ? Doesn't make sense ,just more personal information on whom is going to the beaches .

The history looks confusing to me as I read the City Council meeting agendas and minutes. No time to review the full meeting packets or videos yet.

Looks like they discussed this in meetings on Nov 2 and Nov 16.

The Jan/Feb Beachcaster says they adopted the ordinance (#1228) on 11/16, but the meeting minutes suggest they tabled it pending discussion with the County about releasing City from terms of the deed that prevented charging different access fees for city residents & non-residents at Hightower & Pelican.

The March/April Beachcaster (not online yet?) says the Council will be considering this ordinance at their 3/1 and 3/15 meetings. The city's 2/14 letter also marks these dates (6pm each meeting), so those are the big chances to make your voices heard.

The March 1 meeting packet is online with some of the City Manager's rationale here: https://cms8.revize.com/revize...003-01-23%20Packet.pdf
(Item #8, Page 22)

But some concerns pop up (from the Nov 2 Agenda):

" PROVIDING FOR THE SELECTION OF A THIRD PARTY VENDOR TO MANAGE THE PROGRAM; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT;"

Free parking at HT & Pelican will likely fill those parks w/ non-residents first, and w/ residents too lazy to get the official pass.

This will place undue burden on parking at nearby businesses (Publix, CVS, Doubles, etc) which may bring about the return of some shady tow-truck operators and questionable appeals processes for fines, while making it more difficult for residents to use these parks.

Another unintended consequence of pushing so many people into Pelican is that parties renting the clubhouse or pavilions there may need dedicated, reserved parking to accommodate their guests. Who wants to show up expecting free parking at the function, but then have to walk 3 blocks and pay on top of that?

Just my $0.02; I hope people show up at the meetings and share some rational, respectful, and well-mannered thoughts!



Edited: 02/26/2023 at 09:24 PM by CurtisEflush

brevard county stopped making sense around the same time Talking Heads got popular, IYKYK

I haven't looked into the finances in detail either, but the letter also says, "...to recoup the lost revenue, the City Council will also be contemplating raising Recreation Program fees for non-City residents."

Given all the extra property tax revenue coming from the Oceanus condos, the new McMansions around Montecito, and the homes that have sold for 2-3x their previous assessment in the last two years, I doubt raising the fees for a kid from IHB to play basketball or a senior citizen from SPS to play bingo at the Schecter Center is going to make or break the budget.

On the other hand, those who bought during the recent bubble don't benefit from the previous SOH tax portability law, so, to some extent, they might be paying more than their "fair share" of the beach park maintenance.

My gut feeling is that having a few free parking areas with others requiring payments/passes upsets the "natural order" of things, driving people to scheme it one way or another, while involving third-party enforcement and overhead costs that will never go away.

Simpler is usually better in matters like this.

When we instituted paid parking in Mel Bch, we established a separate budget fund that all parking (and parking fine) dollars went into for the sole purpose of maintaining and improving parks (which includes the beach accesses). Residents receive an annual pass for the parks which is paid for by their taxes. (There is no separate levy or additional taxes.) We could not make it "free" because the State beach renourishment plan has a provision that, if we charge non-residents to park, we need to charge residents. But, because resident portion is paid through their taxes, no additional charge is levied when they pick up their annual pass. (Each resident gets one pass for each car registered to that resident within town limits). (Ocean Park is different because we lease it from the state. Residents and non-residents pay the same hourly rate to park there. All funds and fines collected there must be spent in Ocean park only)

I'm not sure I would call the housing price increase a bubble, at least not around here. We are still relatively cheap compared to most of coastal Florida.

Its kind of ironic, the beach surfers want to go to when its going off doesn't even have parking. Are the crybabies gonna blame Sat.bch. leadership when they start towing?

In a low tax state, the money has to come from somewhere...at least, that's what I have been told. It's fees, not taxes. lol

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I was right.