June 8th's Council Meeting is The Last Word - Here's Where Things Stand

We have an important update, and some of it corrects the record.

When this petition started, the concern was a vote to raise downtown parking rates. Here's what we've since confirmed directly from the city: the rate increases already passed on May 11. They were approved as part of the consent agenda - no separate vote, no public hearing, no notice to the downtown businesses, workers, and visitors who will pay for them. They take effect October 1. This is the first downtown parking increase in 17 years, and it was decided in the time it takes to clear a stack of routine items.

What's still up for a vote on June 8 is the rest of the ordinance: extending paid enforcement from 6 PM to 8 PM, straight through the dinner hour, and raising violation fees, with some real-world totals reaching $57.

Since then, we obtained two city documents that sharpen the picture.

The city's own parking study is built entirely around "turnover" - moving cars faster and discouraging long visits. It defines any stay over four hours as something the policy is designed to discourage.

A dinner and a show is four hours.
A night out is over 4 hours.

• The study never modeled what any of this does to the restaurants, bars, and venues that make up most of downtown.
  
  

The minutes from the workshop where this was first presented show that the only people in the room were city officials and the staff who wrote the plan. No business operators. No public.

Then the rates passed on consent buried with other paperwork on May 11th - a $5 million dollar increase on the backs of visitors to downtown.

Here's the thing worth holding onto: downtown is the only one of Orlando's eleven Main Street districts with paid parking at all. Mills 50, Audubon Park, Thornton Park, the Milk District - all free.

Downtown isn't a revenue center. It's a neighborhood.

Three ways to help before June 8:

🚨 WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
The June 8 vote will be decided by seven people. They each have a public email address. Most of them have never heard from a downtown resident, worker, or patron on this issue. Your voice matters more than you think.

Pick one of these options:

Option 1: Email all seven at once (fastest)
👉 Click here to email Mayor Dyer and all six commissioners

Option 2: Email each commissioner individually

⭐ Patty Sheehan, District 4 - Central Business District, Lake Eola, Thornton Park, downtown core 
Your downtown commissioner already raised cashless concerns publicly. Reinforce her position. patty.sheehan@orlando.gov

⭐ Shan Rose, District 5 -  Parramore, west downtown, Pine Hills, Metro West Represents Parramore and the western edge of downtown. Her constituents are hit too. district5@orlando.gov

Bakari F. Burns, District 6 - West Orlando, Washington Shores
Has not publicly committed either way. bakari.burns@orlando.gov

Roger Chapin, District 3 - North Quarter, College Park, Ivanhoe, Audubon Park
Framed the increase as a "reorganization." Needs to hear from people who drive downtown from his district. roger.chapin@orlando.gov

Tom Keen, District 1 - Lake Nona, southeast Orlando
Newer commissioner. Has not publicly committed. tom.keen@orlando.gov

Tony Ortiz, District 2 - Semoran corridor, east Orlando
Has not publicly committed. tony.ortiz@orlando.gov

Mayor Buddy Dyer At-large
Sets the administration's position. buddy.dyer@orlando.gov

⭐ = Your primary downtown commissioners. Email them first if you only do a few. Patty Sheehan is already on record with concerns - let's reinforce her!

Option 3: Show up in person
The second reading is Monday, June 8, 2026 at Orlando City Hall, 400 S. Orange Avenue. City Council meetings start at 2:00 p.m. Public comment is open to anyone. Three minutes is enough to change a vote.

📋 Copy-paste email template
If the "email all seven" link doesn't work in your email client, here's the full template to copy and send manually.
To: buddy.dyer@orlando.gov, tom.keen@orlando.gov, tony.ortiz@orlando.gov, roger.chapin@orlando.gov, patty.sheehan@orlando.gov, district5@orlando.gov, bakari.burns@orlando.gov
Subject: Please amend the downtown parking ordinance on June 8
Dear Mayor Dyer and Commissioners,
I am writing about the downtown parking ordinance coming back for its second reading on June 8. I am asking you to amend it before final passage.
I understand the rate increases themselves were already approved on May 11 as part of the consent agenda. What remains before you on June 8 is the extension of paid enforcement from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and the increase to violation fees. Those are the pieces I am asking you to reconsider.
I support a modern, well-maintained downtown parking system. I do not support extending enforcement into the dinner hour and raising fines on top of rate increases that already doubled, while no other Main Street district in Orlando carries comparable burdens.
Here is why this matters to me:
[Add one or two sentences here about how this affects you personally — as a resident, business owner, worker, diner, event attendee, senior, or visitor. This is the most important part of your email.]
Specific concerns with the current proposal:
A downtown business owner has already publicly cited parking as the prime reason they are leaving downtown, and that is before any of this takes effect. Extending enforcement to 8 p.m. is a direct cost on downtown restaurants during their peak dinner hours, and customers will choose Mills 50, Audubon Park, Thornton Park, or Winter Park instead, where parking is free.
The city's own parking study is built entirely around vehicle turnover. It treats any visit longer than four hours as something to discourage. A dinner and a show, or a night out downtown, is exactly that length. The study never modeled what this does to the restaurants, venues, and entertainment businesses that make up most of downtown after 6 p.m.
The cashless and meterless transition disproportionately harms seniors, the unbanked, tourists without data plans, and anyone unfamiliar with the payment apps. A violation that can reach $57 for not understanding the technology is unreasonable.
The minutes from the April workshop where this plan was presented show that the only people in the room were Council and parking staff. No downtown business operators were present, and the rate increases then passed on the consent agenda without a public hearing. The businesses paying for this had no point of entry before the rates were final.
Downtown is already absorbing After Midnight Sales fees, the nightclub moratorium, weapons detection requirements, and enhanced parking lot security coding that no other Main Street district faces. Downtown cannot be the only one of Orlando's eleven Main Street districts treated as a revenue center.
Reasonable changes I would support:
Keep enforcement at 6 p.m. rather than extending to 8 p.m. The city's own employee parking discount already moves downtown workers off the street by the early evening, so the extension reaches customers, not workers.
Hold violation fees at current levels rather than raising them.
Phase any future rate changes over two years rather than all at once.
Expand Park DTO free codes to 24 per account and extend the free window to three hours.
Create a small-business validation program for Main Street members.
Apply equivalent regulatory frameworks across all eleven Main Street districts, or apply none.
Commission an economic impact study on downtown's long-dwell businesses before any further parking changes.
Please stand with downtown small businesses, workers, residents, and visitors on June 8.
Sincerely, [Your name] [Your neighborhood or business] [Your phone number]

Thank you for standing with downtown. We'll see you on the 8th.

— Mike Vacirca, Anthem Orlando