Tim Dodson, Communications counsel to Miami Parking Authority was kind enough to get me some answers about the parking fees paid by businesses (story here). He says, according to Fred Bredemeyer, Chief Operations Officer for the Miami Parking Authority:
The City of Miami Code requires any business in the Grove that does not have adequate parking to pay into a fund that the City then uses to build parking at a later time. It is called "payment in lieu of" and it is a great tool, used in cities nationwide, to create funds for parking in areas where there is inadequate parking. MPA’s Oak Avenue Garage is an example of a facility that was built with the help of these funds. MPA is not the only eligible recipient of such funds, however; the public parking on the basement level of the Sonesta hotel was built by a private developer with the help of these funds.
As directed by the Code, MPA is responsible for collecting the "payments in lieu of." MPA did not write the Code, nor does it retain or control these funds. The money has been under the control of the BIC (Business Improvement Committee) for several years; now the fund is being transferred to the new BID (Business Improvement District).
If the restaurants in question have zero on-site parking, they would probably not be permitted to open their doors at all if the "payment in lieu of" option was not available. For the restaurants you mention -- in fact, for any business, regardless of location -- providing parking for customers is a cost of doing business, just like rent/mortgage, electricity, etc. Since the "payment in lieu of" is not based on a percentage of sales, there is no provision for reducing the charge during an economic downturn.
Here is the code.
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