Orlando nightlife operators sound off on city measure to close parking garages early
“We normally get about 1,100 people on a Saturday night,” said event promoter Ricky Padilla. “But last weekend, we could tell pretty quickly something was off. Door revenue was off. Bar sales were off. We only had 600 or 700 people come through.”
Padilla runs a club night called Sabado Gigante at Celine on Magnolia Avenue every weekend. He’s also vested in Artisan’s Table on Church Street and has been watching changes to the downtown scene.
He said he thinks the new weekend parking garage measure enacted by the city of Orlando and Orlando Police Department on May 10 — the one cutting off entry access to parking garages in the downtown core at 11 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays — is a disaster.
“I had people texting me, saying, ‘I can’t find parking,’ and some people gave up,” he said. “So, this has an effect on people who enjoy the late-night scene. It also affects a lot of college kids who works as bartenders, bottle girls and doormen. There’s less money to be made.”
Celine's co-owner Eric Fuller told Orlando Business Journal on May 15 that sales were down by 40% last weekend.
"We saw a massive impact on our sales. And Friday night, one of our artists couldn't get to the venue via their transportation so he had to walk," said Fuller. "I have emailed the mayor and the chief of police and have not heard a response back yet."
Late night regulars know the downtown scene doesn’t start cooking until midnight, so the implications of a statement shared with OBJ by City of Orlando Public Information Officer Ashley Papagni are serious for those who earn their living off late night entertainment.
“City parking garages within the downtown core will limit access at 11 p.m., however, drivers will be able to exit. This applies to no new reentries. Should the specific garage be shared with an adjoining residential building, they would show proof of residency and be permitted in after 11 p.m. as they will remain staffed. City parking garage times varied previously.”
The statement also said the change is “not a new policy or council action, rather these measures are just one of several initiatives the city has taken to further safety in downtown.”
The club owners, promoters and hosts OBJ spoke with all said they heard of the measure via social media posts made by friends and colleagues — not directly from the city.
Brittany Elyse hosts club nights at Sidebar and Room 22 on Orange Avenue, and said she’s skeptical of the measure, which she views as another layer added by the city to dissuade residents and tourists from participating in late night partying.
“How are you enforcing this, and what makes you think this is going to make downtown safer? I don't feel like downtown is unsafe. I live downtown and I hang out downtown 24/7,” she said. “This doesn't make any sense because even the people who work in nightlife, the majority of them have to park downtown."
“In Orlando, a lot of people feed their family based on the money they make working in nightlife, and this is going to be a left turn for them,” said Keith Chapman, who previously promoted downtown events for nine years. “They are losing customers because people have their places they like to park, and they don’t want to park far away. It was already a problem before with the city closing streets and putting up blockades.”
Padilla said he keeps adjusting as the city puts up barriers to late-night business. He’s encouraging people to take Uber or to start their night earlier so they can snag parking spots before garages block entry.
“There are so many great places to go downtown before 11 p.m., just get downtown a little earlier and support the local business owners and bartenders. And maybe we start throwing evening parties to generate traffic earlier, and maybe even open club doors earlier.”
Still, he’s worried he’ll be hit with another measure from the city.
“They had the curfew thing, then they had the added security thing that club owners have to pay for. Now it’s this. It seems like every six months they’ll roll out another thing that makes it harder for people to do business down here late at night.”
