Two ordinances propose changes for Special Events in Fernandina Beach

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
February 26, 2018 – 10:06 a.m.

At the February 20, 2018 Regular Meeting of the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) commissioners considered and approved two ordinances on First Reading to help clarify the city’s policy and fees for special events. Commissioners’ reactions to the changes were mixed. Both ordinances must return for a Second Reading and Public Hearing before they can be adopted.

Background

How the city handles special events—who pays and how much—has been a topic of discussion for several years in Fernandina Beach. The delicate balance between accommodating event organizers while keeping local residents and businesses happy has never been easy. Whereas the Shrimp Festival is covered by a special franchise agreement with the Shrimp Festival Committee, other events rely on the city’s normal permitting system. There has been confusion over how fees are determined, and which events are exempt from fees while others must pay. During budget talks for the current fiscal year, event fees were raised to more accurately represent actual costs to the city for hosting the many races, barbecues, and festivals that occur year round at city parks, on the beach, downtown and in residential areas.

While commissioners supported the increased fees, they found themselves in the uncomfortable position of dealing with complaints from organizers of many civic-minded events that claimed the increased fees would cause them to cancel their events or move their events elsewhere. Organizations sought fee waivers, which if approved, seemed to defeat the purpose of adopting standard fees and applying them uniformly to all parties seeking to hold special events in the city.

Any organized activity involving the use of, or having impact upon, public property, public facilities, parks, beaches, sidewalks, street areas, or the temporary use of private property in a manner that varies from its current land use, requires a permit. Mary Hamburg serves as both the city’s Public Information Officer and the Special Events Coordinator. In her latter role, she presides over a committee composed of representatives of city departments affected or impacted by special events. Fernandina Beach Main Street also has a seat on this committee. The committee reviews all special event permits to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and that the event itself is in the public interest.

Proposed Ordinance 2018-03

This ordinance would amend the existing ordinance to allow parking of recreational vehicles and tents as approved by the Special Events Committee and with a Special Events Permit. This Ordinance would limit the locations to City owned properties such as the Main Beach parking lots and Central Park. The Special Events Committee and the City Manager’s Office supported this change.

Although not allowed by current ordinance, the practice of allowing RVs and tents at certain events like beach barbecues has apparently been tolerated for years.

Vice Mayor Len Kreger said he was assuming that sanitation issues would be covered by the special event permit. He asked that specific locations be included in the ordinance.

Commissioner Chip Ross asked how this change would affect the quality of life for the residents of Fernandina Beach. Special Event Coordinator Mary Hamburg said that this change would mainly benefit the event organizers by providing a convenience. She cited examples where special events bring in expensive equipment that sits overnight. Increased security could be provided if event organizers could stay overnight near that equipment. Hamburg cited the membership on the Special Events Committee as representatives of city departments that look out for the safety and welfare of the citizens. These people supported the changes, assuming that events would be well managed as presented during the special events permit process. The change would not open up overnight camping to those who do not go through that process.

Ross expressed a concern that such a change would open a Pandora’s box of many unintended consequences. He expressed concerns with people camping overnight downtown and possible behavior problems relating to alcohol use. “I’m ambivalent about it,” he said, “but I will vote for it tonight in hopes my concerns can be addressed before the second reading.”

Commissioner Roy Smith said that after a lot of thought, he agreed with Ross. Currently, overnight camping is not allowed, and he did not support making special exceptions for fear the situation could get out of hand. “If people have been doing this in the past as I heard yesterday, then shame on the city for not enforcing the ordinances,” he said. “I won’t vote for it, because I think it is the wrong thing to do.”

Kreger said that the city has been allowing it “forever.” He reminded commissioners that 8-9 years ago Florida Public Utilities installed more outlets at Main Beach to allow it to be done. Kreger said he would vote for it on First Reading, but the events were coming into residential neighborhoods, using city electricity and creating sanitation issues. He wanted assurances that these issues would be addressed before supporting final approval.

Commissioner Phil Chapman said he assumed that the Special Events Committee would limit locations for overnight camping, so that it would not intrude into residential areas or create a tent city on Centre Street. There was no response.

City Attorney Tammi Bach said that the ordinance was limited to city property. She asked Hamburg if in a situation like St. Michael’s Spring Carnival, it would all be covered under one permit or if each vendor would require a permit. Hamburg said there would be one permit.

Kreger suggested that the ordinance should confine itself to certain areas of the city. He expressed concerns that this could become an airport issue, since it has come up in the past with respect to the various car events. He said that there have not been a lot of problems at the Dolphin lot at Main Beach, where this has gone on for a while.

Mayor John Miller agreed with Smith about the possibility of many more problems. He cited as example the Umphrey’s McGee concert that was cancelled several years ago. “I will not support this,” he said, citing problems with blocking city parking lots. He agreed with Ross in not seeing a benefit to the city by supporting this.

Commissioners voted 3-2 with Smith and Miller dissenting to move the ordinance on for a second reading.

Ordinance 2018-04

This ordinance proposed a new fee schedule for events, based more on actual cost to the city than the current fee structure. Hamburg presented a brief slideshow highlighting the changes. With regard to the current situation, she cited a $1,000 environmental impact fee, which although on the list of fees has never been charged. She also said that for commercial running events, the fee had increased from $2 to $5 per runner, causing one event to cancel because of the increased fee.

To respond to concerns over $100 street closure fees, Hamburg said the Special Events Committee was proposing to charge $17 per barricade instead, closer to the actual cost for the city department that erects and takes down the barricades. Hamburg said that the Committee was looking at better cost recovery fees for electricity and keeping other fees in line with what neighboring communities charge. She supported lowering the $5 runner fee back to $2. The $1,000 environmental impact fee go away, to be replaced with a security deposit.

Hamburg presented lists of signature events for both the city and Main Street. These events have been declared good for Fernandina Beach — either citizens, downtown merchants, or both. For these events, if approved by the FBCC, the recommendation was to waive all fees except for police and fire.

Mayor John Miller asked Interim Main Street Director Arlene Filkoff to justify the fee waivers. Filkoff said that there are events that make Fernandina unique and special. Those appear on the lists provided. She said the rationale was that Main Street would sponsor those events that are good for business downtown. Filkoff said that some of the events on the list pay fees currently, while others do not. Unless the FBCC approves the changes, organizers for events on the list have been told that they would continue to pay what the have been paying. “What we’re trying to do is embrace those events that are good for the community and the city,” she said.

Commissioner Roy Smith asked how many more events there were. Filkoff said that at the last committee meeting, 9 other events had been considered. She said that with respect to the running events, only one commercial event had backed off because of the increased fee. She said that in setting up running events the committee has worked with city departments to make the events safer.

Vice Mayor Len Kreger said that from the beginning, his primary concern with events has been their impact on city residents. He said that earlier the North Beach area almost seemed in danger of being rezoned “Athletic” because of all the events that took place up there throughout the year. He thanked the city for listening to concerns of the residents and rerouting some of the races. He did not support reducing the runner fees from $5 to $2 for commercial runs. “We shouldn’t raise fees to drive groups out; fees should be based on event costs,” Kreger said. “But we should consider whether the event itself is a benefit to the city.”

Hamburg clarified that the $5 runner fee only applied to runners in commercially produced runs, not local runs such as the Reindeer Run.

City Manager Dale Martin said that the problem the city runs into is consistency. If the FBCC only wants to support three events, that is their choice. But if the FBCC waives fees beyond those approved events, it creates inconsistency. “This is an effort to identify the key events where the city will walk away from fees. There’s a better benefit from these events than the event fees we would collect,” Martin said.

Ross said he would embrace all the events listed. “They are not designed to make money,” he said. “They are signature events. The locals participate.” Kreger said he also supported the list and would like to see Sounds on Centre added.

Mayor Miller called Filkoff to the podium at that time with respect to Sounds on Centre. He said, “You are looking at things that are good for the community, but not necessarily for downtown business.” Miller went on to speak about business problems created for places like the Crab Trap and Palace Saloon when concert goers occupy parking spaces on a busy Friday evening at dinner time, in effect driving away those who would otherwise dine or drink downtown. He suggested going with Filkoff to the Centre Street businesses to see if Sounds on Centre provided them with any benefits.

Filkoff explained that Sounds On Centre is sponsored by the Historic Fernandina Business Association (HFBA), which strongly believes Friday, the day on which the concerts are scheduled, is the best for the community. The Main Street Board does not concur, which is why the activity is being proposed for city sponsorship as opposed to Main Street sponsorship.

Smith agreed with Filkoff and Miller that the concerts do not support local business. “Most people go to the concerts and leave. You don’t see them eating in the restaurants. It’s a nice event. But does it create business for the city? Nah. It hurts them if anything.”

Chapman suggested that Main Street and the HFBA should query the downtown merchants to see if Friday is a good day or what would be a better day. “Ultimately if you are putting these on, they should be for the benefit of the citizens and the businesses. You have to make sure that those two things are blending together to get the biggest benefit out of it,” he said.

Kreger said that Sounds on Centre concerts are packed with local residents. Filkoff agreed, adding that the HFBA also made that point that the concerts are for the community. She said that HFBA stand by its decision and has no interest in polling the downtown merchants. “If you are not going to act on the feedback you get, then don’t ask for the feedback. They are not interested in feedback from the businesses at this point because their audience is the community.”

Ross pointed out that HFBA as the sponsor should be concerned over whether the event is good for business. Miller said that he has raised the same point. “I never could figure that one out either,” Miller said. Businesses pay $100 to belong to the HFBA, which also recruits concert sponsors from other community businesses.

Kreger moved approval on First Reading with the proviso that the $5 fee be retained for commercial runners. Chapman seconded. The motion passed unanimously with the understanding that it may be further modified on Second Reading.

HFBA responds to concerns about Sounds on Centre

Unlike Main Street, HFBA is a membership organization, technically representing only dues paying members.

Chuck Hall, HFBA President and organizer of Sounds on Centre, responded to queries regarding the organization’s stance on holding concerts on Friday night, despite concerns of merchants. In an email he wrote:

What no one understands is all the other dynamics of putting on a concert for free.

– There are the Sponsors that PAY for all this (and want maximum exposure)

– There are the attendees that look forward to a free Friday night with the family, and dinner afterward.

– There is the proof that this works as we have had 11 years of success beyond expectations.

– This is ONE two-hour concert 6 times per year. It hardly constitutes a hardship on anyone.

– There is always someone that thinks they know better than we do, while we have been responsible volunteers for 45 years.

Does it end with Friday nights? Oh, no, there are those that think we should move it to the waterfront. Those that like the Park, and those that want to see beer sold there. We are hounded by vendors, solicitors, individuals and groups, all wanting to add-to, change, or tweak the event to their own design.

Hall claims that despite comments from Filkoff, Miller and other commissioners, no downtown merchant has approached him to cite a problem with Friday nights.

Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.