There are several pay lots and also some free parking but it fills up fast. Some merchants will comp a couple of hours of parking if doing business there, otherwise it is around $1/hour.

Many tourist areas have little or no free parking. Some FL beaches I have been to recently charge an hourly fee. While also recently in Traverse City MI (after an absence of 2 years) I found all the free street parking had been replaced with meters. The lots that were $10 3 years ago were now $20 for the event we were at.

You have to understand, things work differently in SXM. A lot of laws/rules are rather randomly enforced if at all and the placement of a sign does little or no good at all.

From a pedestrian standpoint, the cars parking on the street/sidewalk creates a lot more problems than the parking barriers ever did.