On September 17, 2026, the Sunny Isles Beach City Commission doubled the nonresident hourly parking rate at three of the city's most-used lots, from $5 to $10. The resident rate stayed at $3. Two weeks earlier, the new Intracoastal Sports Park opened with free court reservations for residents and $30 an hour per person for nonresidents. The free city Resident ID Card now controls a bigger share of what a day in town costs than it did at the start of the season.
Holding the card is not enough to get the resident price, though. Each discount runs through its own system. The parking rate depends on a portal registration and a phone number. Court time depends on an online reservation account. Event wristbands have their own purchase deadlines. Residents who have linked all three get a very different fall from residents who carry the card in their wallet and assume the rest happens on its own.
The Gap Between $3 and $10
The new rate applies at the high-demand lot at Intracoastal Sports Park, 15800 Collins Avenue, and at two beach lots: Newport Pier Park at 16501 Collins Avenue and Ellen Wynne Beach Access at 19333 Collins Avenue. The city's municipal parking map, dated October 19, 2026, lists all three at $10 an hour standard and $3 an hour for residents.
Before the vote, the difference was $2 an hour. Now it is $7. Two hours at the pier cost a nonresident $10 last summer and $20 today. The resident still pays $6. The same resolution lets the city charge $0.18 per kilowatt hour at its electric vehicle charging stations, plus a $0.10-per-minute idling fee.
The same split runs through the city's other programs this fall:
| What you're paying for | Resident ID Cardholder | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly parking at Pier Park, Ellen Wynne, Intracoastal Sports Park | $3 | $10 |
| One-hour court reservation at Intracoastal Sports Park | Free | $30 per person, in person only |
| Tennis racket or basketball rental | Free | $5 per hour |
| Winter Fest wristband, per day | $10 | $50 |
Hotel guests have a middle rate at the courts: $15 an hour per person with a valid hotel reservation. Equipment rentals cost them $5 an hour.
Why the Card Alone Won't Get You $3
At the meter, the card itself does nothing. According to the city's public parking page, residents get the city rate only after two separate steps.
- Register each vehicle through the city's online parking portal. The registration asks for the Resident ID Card, a government ID, the vehicle registration, proof of vehicle insurance and a photo of the vehicle. Rental and company vehicles need additional paperwork.
- Set up a PayByPhone account. If you already use PayByPhone, the phone number in the app has to match the number you gave the city, or the app charges the standard rate.
Step two is the one most likely to go wrong. Before the vote, a household with a second phone, a new number or a spouse's account paying at the meter lost $2 an hour to a mismatch. Now the same mismatch costs $7 an hour, every hour.
The general public parking page still lists the resident discount as $2. The newer city map and the Intracoastal Sports Park page both show $3 at the three affected lots, so expect $3 there.
The higher rates arrive while beach routines are already shifting. The beach access at 18401 Collins Avenue is closed around the clock from August 22 through November 21. Ellen Wynne Beach Access is a few blocks north at 19333 Collins, and it is one of the three lots now at $10 for nonresidents.
The Courts Are Where the Card Is Worth the Most
Intracoastal Sports Park held its grand opening on Thursday, September 3, with a ribbon cutting, tennis and fitness demonstrations, live music and raffles. The park has multi-use courts for tennis and basketball, outdoor exercise equipment and a pedestrian walkway along the water. According to the city's October 2026 Islander newsletter, tennis and basketball ranked among residents' top choices in a community survey, and that survey shaped the design.
The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset. The courts run in two sessions, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a midday break that matters for anyone planning a lunch-hour game.
The Intracoastal Sports Park page sets out how resident reservations work:
- Book through sibfl.gov/activities, in one-hour blocks, up to seven days in advance.
- Each household is limited to three reservations per week and one per day.
- A resident can bring up to three guests per tennis reservation or nine per basketball reservation. Each guest costs $5 an hour and needs a signed waiver.
- Basketball reservations are offered daily from 5 to 8 p.m.
The guest fee changes the math for a weekly doubles game. One resident hosting three nonresident friends pays $15 for the hour in guest fees. Those same three friends booking on their own would pay $30 each, and they would have to book in person.
The rules are strict. Private tennis lessons and spectators on the court are not allowed, only water is permitted on the courts, and athletic shoes and attire are required. The rest of the park prohibits pets other than recognized service animals, bicycles, skates, scooters, glass, alcohol, grilling, amplified music, smoking and fishing. Anyone hoping to bring the dog along for a walk by the water will need to go somewhere else.
The park's lot is one of the three that moved to $10, so a resident who drives over for a free court booking without a linked PayByPhone account pays the nonresident parking rate for the visit.
Winter Fest Is the Next Date on the Calendar
The city runs its seasonal events with the same split. Booogie by the Beach ran at Pelican Community Park on October 23 and 24 with $10 wristbands for cardholders and $50 for nonresidents, and those wristbands had to be bought by October 22.
Winter Fest at Gateway Park comes next, on Saturday, November 21, and Sunday, November 22, from 5 to 9 p.m. Wristbands are $10 per day for Resident ID Cardholders and $50 for nonresidents. Saturday is the park-lighting night, and Sunday adds more entertainment. Parking in the Gateway Park Garage at 151 Sunny Isles Boulevard is free during the event. Details and wristband sales are on the city's Winter Fest 2026 page.
A family of four with valid cards pays $80 for both nights. The same family without cards pays $400. The Booogie deadline shows the city sells wristbands ahead of time, so check the Winter Fest page for its cutoff early rather than planning to buy at the gate.
Getting to Gateway Park in the evening means driving the stretch of Collins Avenue under construction. The Florida Department of Transportation began work on June 30, 2026, between NE 163rd Street and NE 178th Street, on a project estimated at about six months. The work includes new signals, curb ramps, bicycle signals on both sides of Collins, and repaving. Lane closures are scheduled overnight. The earliest is a single eastbound lane on Sunny Isles Boulevard closing from 8:30 p.m., and northbound Collins loses a lane starting at 9 p.m. Winter Fest lets out at 9 p.m. The city says closures happen only during non-peak hours or on non-event days, and the schedule can change with weather.
The Card Works at Local Businesses Too, Briefly
Through the city's Support SIB Local program, Sunny Isles Beach businesses offer promotions to residents who show their card and to hotel guests who show a room key. Businesses submit offers for city review, and approved deals go up on the program page within five to seven business days.
October's Deal of the Month is Pizza Bianco, inside the Ramada Marco Polo at 19201 Collins Avenue. Cardholders choose one of three offers:
- a free half-dozen garlic rolls with two whole pizzas
- 10% off the total purchase
- free delivery to a Sunny Isles Beach park for a children's party or gathering, with a $50 minimum order placed at least five days ahead
The garlic rolls and the discount are pickup or curbside only, and the offers can't be combined. All three expire November 1, so as of this week the deal has a few days left, and the program page is where the next one will be posted.
The Card Expires Every Year
The Resident ID Card is valid for one year from the date it was issued, and the city requires annual renewal. A card issued last fall may already have expired, and an expired card fails at every step above: the parking registration, the court booking and the wristband line.
The card is free. According to the city's Resident ID Card page, a first-time applicant brings:
- a government photo ID
- a current deed or a one-year lease, plus a residency letter from the condominium or management company for renters
- two supporting documents chosen from vehicle registration and insurance, a non-mobile utility bill from the last three months, or a credit or debit card statement from the last three months
Renewal requires a government photo ID and a current deed or one-year lease, with the management letter for renters, and the address has to match across every document. Applications and renewals can be completed online, or in person at three locations:
| Location | Address | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Government Center | 18070 Collins Avenue | Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Pelican Community Park | 18115 North Bay Road | Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., weekends 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Gateway Center | 151 Sunny Isles Boulevard | Weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
Pelican Community Park is the only one of the three open on weekends. The parking registration needs the card itself, so a resident who renews on a Saturday morning can register a vehicle in the portal that same afternoon.
At Brosda & Bentley Realtors, we follow how Sunny Isles Beach prices access to its parks, beaches and events, because these costs shape day-to-day ownership in the city as much as any HOA budget does. If you're considering a Sunny Isles Beach residence and want to know what ownership looks like day to day, building by building, we'd welcome the conversation. Schedule a Private Luxury Consultation.
