Delray Beach — The Downtown Development Authority on Monday reviewed early results from the city’s new employee parking pilot and urged closer DDA–city coordination on surveys and employer sign‑up to reduce merchant concerns about the new parking regime.

City staff reported about 700 sign‑ups for the employee parking permit in the first weeks of the pilot. DDA staff and business representatives said the number is a meaningful early start but noted there are several thousand employees in Delray Beach and urged additional outreach and user‑friendly enrollment tools.

Why it matters: The pilot is coupled with broader parking ordinance changes — new garage rates, updated lot limits and other adjustments that the City Commission put on for second reading this month — and merchants say turnover and employee parking are crucial to downtown customer access.

Board discussion and next steps:

- DDA staff will share the draft survey questions with the board and the Chamber so business feedback can be included before the city sends the larger survey.
- The board urged the city to consider automating employer enrollment and certification to reduce business administrative burden; a DDA member suggested exploring a simple employer‑portal or app to streamline approvals.
- DDA members recommended delaying broad public surveys until the permit renewal window so questions align with the user experience; staff said they plan to launch soon and requested rapid feedback.

Board members said they would continue to provide merchant feedback at the City Commission public hearing on the ordinance and proposed sending a joint letter if the board agrees on specific edits. No formal vote was taken on changing the pilot design at Monday’s meeting.

Ending: DDA staff will provide the survey questions to board members for comment and coordinate additional merchant outreach in the coming weeks.