Submitted by Bob Allison
April 14, 2015 8:59 a.m.
We live in paradise. We have the most beautiful beaches and downtown in the entire nation. We have some of the most interesting historical sites in Florida. Our salt and fresh water fishing and kayaking are to die for. Are there a better collection of great restaurants or exciting golf courses anywhere in Florida? ……I don’t know where.
People discover Nassau County and then can’t live without it. They buy property and settle in and we, as a county, grow. We have exposed our secret paradise to tourists arriving by car, boat, and plane but we have never really exposed our secret paradise to those roaming around the United States in million dollar motorhomes. What happens if we do? These folks are obviously retired or they wouldn’t have the time to be roaming around the country at their leisure. They also appear to have deep pockets or they couldn’t afford fuel for equipment that barely gets four miles to the gallon. What happens if this affluent group of tourists visiting Florida start flipping their plastic cards from their wallets and purses here in Nassau County?
To evaluate this potential, lets imagine if there was a place to park their motorhome in Nassau County close to Amelia Island they might spend on average a couple of hundred dollars a day. This is money to local merchants for everything from food to wine to fresh flowers and stationary. A small facility of just one hundred campsites for motorhomes would inject $20,000 per day in to our local economy. A huge share of this would be spent at popular local restaurants. Can we hear from the folks who are out there scrambling every day to make it in the food service industry? Can you come forward and say “We Support RV Tourism in Nassau County”?
Our local realtors know better than anyone what has driven property values and sales in Nassau County. It has been the process of discovery of the island by qualified buyers who came to the conclusion they had to own some piece of our paradise. If we want to continue to win on this we need to support this process of discovery by newcomers. What happens when five or six thousand retired couples who are roaming around in their million dollar motors homes discover Amelia Island? If just three or four hundred qualified buyers enter into a market as small as ours and are determined to own property we might believe the good times of 2006 have returned. With the kind of money this particular clientele throws around, our real estate market might actually become truly recession proof. Can our local Realtors come forward and say “We Support RV Tourism in Nassau County”.
The most severe limitation for those traveling and vacationing in motorhomes is the inability to bring along a boat. Most are towing a car and you can’t tow more than one thing at a time. RV Tourists will be all about boats if they can come here. They will want to charter, tour, rent and do everything else people want to do with boats when they vacation in new places. Can any of the folks messing around with boats here in Nassau County step up and say “We Support RV Tourism in Nassau County”.
Hello over there to the Ritz and the Omni……interested in any new customer patrons at the spa or at any of your fine restaurants? You might want to come forward and say “We Support RV Tourism in Nassau County”. One thing the big motorhomes always have room for in their storage compartments is golf clubs. Is there anybody out there in the golf business looking for a few new golfers? You might also want to support RV Tourism in Nassau County.
There have to be a few hundred families scattered around in Nassau County with a grown child living at home because he or she can’t find a job. Many fine, well paying and secure jobs are held by Nassau County citizens working in tourism related industries. The best way to get your child onto a meaningful life path and out of your house and into their own quarters is for them to find a good job. You might want to speak out and say “We Support RV Tourism in Nassau County”.
Let’s stretch this out and look into the future just for fun. Let’s say someone built a really nice RV campground in Nassau County and it was successful. This might lead others to do the same thing and perhaps one day Nassau County night have just half the capability to overnight park RV Tourists as St. Augustine. This number of new tourists would spend around $100,000 a day with local Nassau County merchants. Merchants, if you have read this far, you know what to say.
Has anyone noticed Nassau County has its best alignment of local leaders in decades? These are all men of outstanding character with true dedication to what is best for Nassau County. We should expect their leadership on such an important issue affecting the future of our County…………and our taxes.
Aaron we need to hear from you. You see the positive economic impact RV Tourism is having in Districts 1 and 6. What is your position on RV Tourism in District 4? Mike, opening the doors to RV Tourism in Nassau County may positively affect property assessments. Where do you stand on this issue? John, you are unquestionably one of our County’s most important leaders on all County issues and we will be relying on you and your staff to collect the new money. Where do you stand on this issue?
Finally, the not so good news……. Nassau County has a $12 million dollar budget shortfall problem. There are only two ways this can be dealt with. One way is to grow our economy to generate more taxes and more income to the County. The other way is to reduce services to Nassau County citizens. Any new growth in Nassau County which produces new sales and ad valorem tax revenues can be an important contributing element in the solution to this problem.
Can our Nassau County Commission wade into this discussion with a positive and supportive position on RV Tourism? Pat…Steve…George…Danny… Junior… where are you guys on this?
Is there anyone out there anywhere, be they business person or community leader or ordinary tax paying citizen, that can utter the simple battle cry for new local prosperity………………..…. ” I support RV Tourism in Nassau County”?
Respectfully to All,
Bob Allison
According to our Nassau County Clerk of Courts there is no 12 million dollar shortfall as he claimed in last weeks News Leader.
Most government is a shell game when it comes to accounting. Funds are hidden away in accounts in which the contents are classified as a budget item but they are never spent. All these accounts together add a big dollar amount of money that appear to be liabilities but our play money for our officials to allot as they see fit and when they see fit.
Also with the hundreds of home now being planned for construction on the island I wonder where all the money will be coming for the infrastructure to support them.
Is it really a great idea to add 200 bus sized RV’S to our roads if we ever have to evacuate ?
People in RV’S I doubt are out everyday spending hundreds of dollars on meals when they have a cozy place right in their vehicle.
And as for the $100,000 a day going to our local merchants who pay their service workers $10 an hour if they are lucky, your are right that is big boost to the economy but who’s economy. I am sure all that extra money will be going to pay higher wages. Maybe then these workers can get off of Medicaid and food stamps and have enough money to feed and cloth their families. Some of these workers are doing 2 or 3 jobs a day to make ends meet.
An RV park near a residential area I am sure would not raise property values.
How soon we forget the loud “NO” to this idea a year or two ago.
Signed,
Robert R. Althar
Bob, Great article, also enjoyed your opinion column in the leader last week. I give you a lot of credit, you don’t give up when you know you have a good idea. This town would have a sorry marina if you hadn’t persevered. I think the whole reluctance of an RV campground on the Island is perception. I know, I have no idea what an upscale RV park looks like. I’ve spent time in RV campgrounds in the 70’s,80’s and 90’s where there were a bunch of drunks at times camped next to me and my family that partied all night. I’ve had situations where there were dogs that would not stop barking, people purging their sumps in bushes. It sounds terrible, I have to say we have also had many wonderful weekends of RV camping during that time. “Perception” good luck.
A conservation oriented, environmentally sound, upscale park where that bank wanted to put 400 apartments?
“I have no idea what an upscale RV park looks like.”
It looks exactly like a boys band in River City, Iowa. And Bob Allison, God love him as I do and have for many years, looks exactly like Professor Harold Hill. Dreamers gotta dream, and we need dreamers among us.
Ms. D. – Yep.
Bob, any possibility for the RV park over on the O’Conner’s property over by the airport zoned 1-A? Not sure where an RV park comes under the zoning designation but if considered a lodging facility, that is supported in 1-A. In the immediate area where you tried before but the land has largely been cleared and not adjacent to residential so you shouldn’t have the issues about trees and such as you had before. Would seem to be a minimal expense although the O’Conner’s may not be interested. Certainly would be more attractive location than the place over off Pecan Park Road near JAI which always seems to be almost full.
Dave, my interest is in building an RV “campground” versus an RV “park”. The environmentalist in me causes me to only think only in terms of very low density. RV parks have densities as great as 40 units per acre. RV campgrounds are mostly 10 or less units per acre with lots of landscape and open space. The ideal project for our area would be an extreme low density RV campground designed for the largest and most expensive Class “A” motorhomes. The O’Conner’s property is well located for this use but it is in the city where I have learned many of the most important decisions regarding land development are made on false pre-conceived notions or worse on mob rule. As Tim Poynter might agree, this is not an environment in which serious businessmen with even the best of ideas can make any meaningful progress.
Bob, my used of the term “park” was out of naivete and I understand the difference. The place over by JAI is clearly a RV park and certainly not what anyone would want on the island. Don’t give up the fight on the O’Connor property as a possible site as that is about the only site on the island large enough and with needed road access.
Best wishes!
I have lived in a community where the same plea was made for bringing motor home owners into town. In that case, it was for a three-day festival, although the “big-spenders” arrived on Monday for the Friday night concert. (Their site pass could give them those four extra days at no charge.) They were friendly, congenial people for the most part but they were notoriously cheap. No restaurants saw any surge in business. Even the convenience store owner complained that they wanted nothing but wine and beer. Some of their rigs may be costly, but having opened their wallets for shelter and gas, it’s unlikely you’ll find many who will spend $100 a day or even $50 a day with local merchants.
I also have a relative who lived her retirement adventure in a fifth-wheel for several years in Arizona and Mexico. When it came time to sell that expensive home on wheels, there were no buyers. She had to trade it in for a considerably smaller model that consumed less gas. Some of her acquaintances had invested most of their savings in the monstrous rigs after selling their homes. After 2008 they discovered they could not afford the site rentals and were parking at the homes of relatives.
Money will be made, if a motor home park is established. It will be made by the owner of the motor home park.
Bob, I couldn’t agree with you more. We’re in our RV up in Connecticut and heading north. Amelia Island is the only major tourist area in the State that doesn’t have some type of full service facility for RVs. It’s all in the perception of then and now. Too bad.
Your pitching Nassau county in this article, I don’t here people saying anything negative about a park anywhere in the county… just on the island. You were trying to pitch this on Amelia island. Not sure if your changing your tune or just your tactics on how your presenting the idea. Maybe you could clarify that. My thoughts are let’s not invite anymore large truck like vehicles to share the roads on this island.
As a person who owned and traveled in a motor-home, for many years, I can assure you, that group of people are not going to come and drop piles of money on Amelia island. We had a motor-home for years so we “DIDN”T” have to go out and spend money all the time. Plus we had to spend most of our funds on 7mpg gas bills, repairs and the crazy fees at these fancy parks you speak of..it is true your going to get some RVers to come out and have a meal but if growth or prosperity is your pitch, someone in a $350,000 home is going to far outstrip contributions to the community.
Chris, traffic on the island is already at crisis levels. A facility catering to motorhomes needs to be off the island. Remember the $350,000 home puts all kinds of burdens and costs on the community including the cost of kids in school where the motor home crowd just comes and spends money just like every other kind of tourist. We should not continue to hold the doors in Nassau County closed to this group
Bob Allison