Fred Howard Park beach parking goes hourly Dec. 1, and annual passes already cost more

Illustrative file photo: a convertible parked in a marked beachside parking lot with painted stalls and wheel stops as a kite surfer's canopy flies overhead. Photo: Xrzt / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Resized; website wordmark added. Photo source · License

Parking at Fred Howard Park, Tarpon Springs' county beach and launch spot off Sunset Drive, switches from a flat $6 a day to $3.50 an hour on Dec. 1, with a daily cap of $12 plus tax. Boat ramp parking moves to a $12 daily fee the same day. A quick hour at the beach gets cheaper; a full day costs twice what it does now.

Pinellas County commissioners approved the increases at Fred Howard, Sand Key and Fort De Soto as part of the newly adopted county budget, according to FOX 13's report on the vote. County officials project the changes will bring in close to $3 million a year and say the rates had gone about two decades without an adjustment.

Pass prices already went up Oct. 1

The pass increases took effect Oct. 1, ahead of the hourly rates, so anyone shopping now is already paying the new prices posted by Pinellas County Parks and Conservation Resources. Plus tax, the full-price annual beach pass went from $75 to $95, the annual boat pass from $110 to $140, the senior pass covering beach and boat areas from $55 to $70, the full-price six-month beach pass from $45 to $60, and the limited-income beach pass from $37 to $55.

The county also stopped selling a standalone senior beach pass, added a $105 military-discount annual boat pass, and kept disabled U.S. veteran passes free. At $95 plus tax, a full-price annual beach pass now pays for itself in roughly eight capped $12 beach days.

Boat pass holders get more range: the annual boat and beach pass covers all county park ramps plus the Sutherland Bayou, Belleair Causeway and Park Boulevard ramps, and includes beach parking without a trailer at Fred Howard, Sand Key and Fort De Soto. Boat ramp pay stations charge $6 a day until the Dec. 1 change.

Buying one

Passes are sold and renewed at explore.pinellas.gov, by phone at 727-582-2100 (Option 2), or in person at the Parks and Conservation Resources office at 12520 Ulmerton Road in Largo. Card payments carry a non-refundable 2.9% processing fee; paying cash at the Largo counter avoids it. Drivers with a valid disabled parking permit properly displayed do not pay parking fees.