A few years back Volusia County decided to give up running beachfront parking lots.

In New Smyrna Beach, that meant the city is now on the hook for maintaining these areas and they can't do it for free.

So now, the city wants to charge $5 a day to park in the lots on 27th Avenue, Flagler Avenue Boardwalk, Esther Street and the North Beach Park.

Those who work and live here aren't warming up to the proposal.

Brandon Gilliland is the manger of a beachside souvenir store. He said out-of-town guests may fork over the money. 

“You know, if they've never been here before then they'll say 'oh, $5 parking? Oh, okay. That's fine.' But locals definitely not going to like it,” Gilliland said.

And he's concerned some locals may avoid the beachside altogether, including his store.

And if Volusia County decides to raise the rates for on-beach parking to $10 a day, which is being talked about, then the parking plan in New Smyrna Beach calls for a match.

Going from free to $10 is tough to swallow.

Valerie Methot lives in New Smyrna Beach and said some may even boycott the beachside over this. 

“I know I'm a resident here," Methot said. "I probably wouldn't want to come to the beach and spend $10 every weekend that I come because that tends to add up.”

But there's a silver lining for city residents: under the proposal, a yearly pass, sold only to those who live within the city limits, would cost $20. Methot said that may "unruffle" some feathers but any plan to charge for parking will meet resistance.

It's thought the four lots would raise more than a million dollars over the next five years.

That's after paying off expenses to get it set up.

And the parking fees don't stop here.

Boaters putting in at the two city-run boat ramps would have to fork out $10 a day.

Unlike the beachfront parking, there would be no local discount at the boat launches. It would also bring in about $790,000 over the next five years.

Discounts cannot be issued because money from the Florida Inland Navigational District was used on the ramps and any project using FIND funds cannot have any "discriminatory charges" such as a discount.

These moves could have other consequences, such as people parking in front of Flagler Avenue businesses or in the residential neighborhoods.

The city proposal addresses those concerns by enforcing a two-hour parking limit along Flagler which is rarely enforced, and possibly looking at residential parking zones should those areas become overrun by beach-goers.

The city commission is holding a special informational meeting tonight to discuss the parking plan.

If they decide to go ahead with it, an ordinance must be drawn up and those parking kiosks would go up in late spring of next year.