Continuing the Fernandina Beach seawall north

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
March 3, 2022

Fernandina Beach City Commissioner Chip Ross sought consensus from his fellow Commissioners at their March 1, 2022 Workshop on a way to move forward with the Amelia River waterfront resiliency project. The first phase is nearing completion, and questions remain about the best way to continue the seawall north.  

The biggest stumbling block to date is the property north of the Fernandina Harbor Marina, commonly referred to as the Simmons O’Steen property.  The FBCC had authorized the City to proceed with eminent domain action after years of attempting to purchase the land from an unwilling seller.  However, the FBCC abandoned this tactic last year as legal fees mounted and the owner commissioned appraisal exceeded two million dollars.

The Nassau County Property Appraiser in 2020 had provided a market value of $756,240 for the .71 acre property.  Prior to initiating legal action to obtain the property, which was deemed essential to many actions connected to building a waterfront park, the City had obtained an estimate of $800K to purchase the property. The offer was rejected by property owners who have held the property since 1985, even after the City agreed to raise the estimated purchase price.

The lowest points along the river include this property and the City-owned property adjacent to the north at 101 North Front Street.  This is the area that floods most often during storms and heavy rains.  Ross noted that to date the condition of the Simmons-O’Steen property remains unchanged since the initial CRA Plan cited it as an example of unsanitary and unsafe conditions close to 20 years ago.

Noting that these two properties constitute Section 7 of the FBCC-approved waterfront plan concept, Ross asked Commissioners how and when they wanted to proceed.  Ross said, “This area is the lynchpin of the plan; if we don’t do something here, there is really no point in doing anything else.  It’s the lowest point, and it’s already flooding.  The railroad tracks and Front Street also flood.”

Ross presented options for moving forward:

• Hold the course — build other areas
• Build around the property
• Pass seawall requirements for waterfront property owners or impose a special assessment
• Revisit eminent domain to acquire an easement or purchase for the seawall area 
• Do Nothing

Ross presented a slide to show how the City could build a seawall around the Simmons-O’Steen property.  While admitting that such a solution was not ideal, it would allow the project to proceed.

Ross asked for support from other Commissioners to direct City staff to prepare an RFP for development of the City-owned property at 101 North Front Street.  Any development proposal would be required to meet existing CRA design requirements as well as height limits.  No residential development is allowed west of Front Street.

Vice Mayor Len Kreger agreed that moving forward with a seawall when the most vulnerable part of the waterfront was left open “was crazy.”  He suggested moving ahead with an ordinance like Fort Lauderdale’s to compel private property owners to participate, even though law suits could arise.  Citing problems that will eventually manifest themselves due to climate change, Kreger said that today the City has the time to develop such an ordinance.  He supported moving ahead with an RFP in hopes that such a move might also engage the owners of the Simmons-O’Steen property.

Ross challenged Kreger on the urgency of the project.  “We aren’t talking about sea level rise here.  We are talking about flooding that happens now.”

Commissioner David Sturges supported proceeding with the seawall.  He did not support building it around the Simmons-O’Steen property, believing it would “look ridiculous.”  “We are discussing one particular property with one particular owner,” Sturges said in response to the idea of imposing special assessments via an ordinance.  He said he would support moving forward to acquire an easement to build the seawall.

Sturges allowed that he had contacted the property owner who had put forward some ideas that would help him and the City.  “I think we need to give some time to this effort,” he said.  He suggested working with DEP to see if the seawall could be built further to the west of this property.  He added his support to an RFP for the City property at 101 North Front Street.  “That’s where development needs to occur,” he said.

Commissioner Bradley Bean did not support moving forward with an RFP.  “We have a plan,” he said, “and I think something will open up in the future.”

Commissioners agreed to ask City staff to prepare an RFP for 101 North Front Street within 60 days to be followed by more Commission discussion for 60 days.

Mayor Mike Lednovich asked that the CRA Advisory Board weigh in on this matter.  He added that the seawall should stretch all the way north to the Port of Fernandina.  “How do we protect that entire area?” he asked.  He added that in parts of South Florida, local governments had to force the issue with property owners.  “I think we are in the same predicament,” he said.  “At some point that’s what we may have to do.”

A visibly frustrated Commissioner Chip Ross said, “We’ve been doing this for 20 years, gentlemen.  And now we’re kicking the can down the road again.  I’m bending over backwards to try to come up with a proposal to move forward. … All I’m proposing is a simple thing:  do an RFP, wait 60 days to see what proposals come forward.”

While discussion continued about the advisability of crafting an ordinance to impose a special assessment on riverfront property owners for continuing a seawall to protect all the waterfront property north to the port, no consensus was achieved.  Ross reminded commissioners that the plan that they had already approved calls for extending the seawall to the north at the end of City property by crossing Front Street and building the wall along the east side of Front Street.  The crossing point on Front Street would be gated so that traffic could continue to flow in both directions except during times of storms.