On a weekend this fall, the cheapest parking for the Fisher Family Pier is at City Hall, 100 W. Atlantic Boulevard, on the mainland side of the Intracoastal. Since Friday, October 2, the City of Pompano Beach has run a free, on-demand Fishing Village Shuttle. It carries riders from two free downtown Park & Ride lots straight to the beach and back, Friday through Sunday and on holidays, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The city calls the shuttle a way to ease beach parking. It's also the only parking fix that's actually running. A large surface lot on the beach has gone away, the permanent replacement failed its vote, and the rate overhaul meant to pay for that replacement hasn't moved since. Until one of those changes, a weekend at the pier works best when it starts in Old Town.
What Closed at 20 North Ocean Boulevard
The "W lot" was the surface parking on a 3.7-acre site at 20 N. Ocean Boulevard, on the north side of Atlantic Boulevard. A development order for the property dates to 2006, but nothing was ever built there. The previous owner leased the land to the city for public beach parking. Related Group and BH Group bought the site for $47.5 million in 2023 and filed revised plans for a 24-story hotel and condo tower the next year, according to Florida YIMBY.
That project is W Pompano Beach Hotel & Residences. In March 2026, the Sun Sentinel reported an estimated groundbreaking of October 2026. No published source has confirmed a groundbreaking as of October 10, and the city hasn't given an exact closing date for the lot. Its September 16 announcement tied the shuttle to the lot's closure. The local site Pompano Beach Insider said the closure removed "a meaningful chunk" of the spaces people used to reach that stretch of sand.
The lot was a parking resource that was always temporary. It filled in for spaces the city never had to build, and that's why its loss shows up so directly in the city's plans.
How the Free Ride Works, and Its One Rule
The Fishing Village Shuttle is part of the city's electric Pompano Circuit, but it does a different job than the beach loop. The city's Circuit page lays it out:
- Park free at City Hall, 100 W. Atlantic Blvd., or at the Old Town lot at NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue. Riders who live inside the new green service area can request a pickup from home instead.
- Request a ride in the free Ride Circuit app, or wave down a fleet driver.
- Ride direct to the Fisher Family Pier and beach. The fleet has a GEM e6 that seats five, a VW ID. Buzz that seats six, and a Ford E-Transit van that seats 8 to 15 and is wheelchair accessible. All of them have room for beach chairs, bags and coolers.
- Ride back the same way, as late as 10 p.m.
The one rule is that the green-zone shuttle runs only to and from the beach and Fishing Village area. It won't take you between two stops in the expanded zone or from one spot on the beach to another. For hops along the beach, the original blue-zone Circuit still runs Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. It serves Fishing Village, the pier, Harbor Village, the beach hotels and nearby shops and restaurants.
So a Saturday can use both. Take the green shuttle from City Hall to the pier, use the blue loop to get to dinner at Harbor Village, then catch the green shuttle back to your car. The city hasn't said how long the shuttle program will last, or whether weekday service could follow.
What the Beach-Side Options Cost This Fall
For drivers who'd rather park at the sand, here's how the main options compare. Hourly rates are the figures the Sun Sentinel reported in July 2026. The five-hour totals are simple math on those rates.
| Option | Weekend rate | Five-hour Saturday | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park & Ride + Fishing Village Shuttle | Free | $0 | Fri–Sun and holidays, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. |
| Pier Parking Garage, 3460 NE 3rd St. | $2.50/hour | $12.50 | Self-parking on levels 2–4; ground floor is valet |
| On-street beach parking | $3.25/hour | $16.25 | $4/hour on holidays |
Weekday rates are lower: $1.80 an hour in the garage and $2.50 on the street. Residents can sign up for a 20% discount on hourly parking through PayByPhone with proof of residency, and the registration has to be renewed every year. At the 20% rate, five weekend hours on the street come to $13. The garage also sells monthly permits: $100 for the rooftop and $150 for levels 2 through 4.
There's a catch on the garage. In December 2025, city staff proposed technology upgrades that would let the resident discount apply to garage parking, as TAPinto Pompano Beach reported. That proposal is tied to a decision the commission still hasn't made.
Why the Shuttle Is the Fix for Now
Pompano pays for parking projects through a Parking Enterprise Fund set up in 2013. That fund built the Pier Parking Garage, which opened in 2016. Its last rate increase was in 2021. The next project was meant to follow the same pattern.
In late 2025, staff recommended a design-build contract of about $32.8 million with Whiting-Turner Contracting Company for the "Oceanside" garage. It would have put more than 700 spaces on the city surface lot at 109 N. Ocean Blvd., near the beach fire station, with construction expected to take two years. The city's Legistar record shows the item was postponed on November 13, 2025, and failed its adoption vote on December 9, 2025.
The money side stalled the same night. An ordinance that would raise parking rates 20% citywide and lift the resident discount from 20% to 50% passed first reading on December 9, 2025. Its record has said "Held" ever since. In July 2026, the Sun Sentinel reported that commissioners had put off any increase until they reach a deal on a beachside garage. Commissioner Allison Fournier told the paper:
"The garage that was brought to us was not the right answer, not the right solution, and not the right cost."
Fournier added that the commission is looking for a path forward. She linked the demand to "a complete revitalization of the beach area" over the past decade, which brought restaurants, a Kilwins, the pier and a jellyfish museum. No newer action on the garage shows up in the public record. That leaves three pieces tied together. The rate change waits on a garage deal, the garage deal doesn't exist yet, and in the meantime a beach lot has closed. A few vans running from two downtown lots are what the city could put in place right away.
Three Evenings Built Around the Old Town Lots
The Park & Ride lots sit in Old Town, the same downtown core where several of the city's regular evening events happen. Pompano Beach Insider put it simply: you can do something in Old Town and the beach "without moving your car twice." The calendar for the rest of the fall works well with that.
- Friday, November 6: Old Town Untapped at Bailey Contemporary Arts, 41 NE 1st Street, 6 to 10 p.m., with the Shane Duncan Band. Untapped is in Old Town itself, so the car can stay in the Old Town lot all evening.
- Friday, November 13: Music Under the Stars on the Pompano Beach Great Lawn, presented by Briny Irish Pub. The free series runs 7 to 9 p.m. on second Fridays at Atlantic Boulevard and Pompano Beach Boulevard. The city has closed that intersection during past concerts. The shuttle's 10 p.m. cutoff leaves an hour after the last song to get back to City Hall.
- Friday, December 4: Old Town Untapped's holiday show with Waist to Chest, again at Bailey Contemporary Arts from 6 to 10 p.m.
For the November 13 concert, Pompano Beach Insider suggested parking free downtown, having dinner in Old Town, riding the shuttle to the lawn and riding back after the encore. A Saturday in season works the same way. Leave the car at City Hall by late morning, request a ride once the shuttle starts at 11 a.m., and the trip to the sand costs nothing. On the same day, five hours in the Pier Garage would cost $12.50.
The rules around beach parking will probably keep changing as the W project moves ahead and the commission comes back to the garage. If you're weighing what that means for a home or condo near the pier, 1 Ocean Realty can walk you through the access picture, building by building, in English or Russian. Contact Tatsiana for a personalized market consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
