Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
The Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) approved with a 3-2 vote Ordinance 2018-07, amending the Amelia Park Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay. The approval, which came during a quasi-judicial rehearing of the case on June 5, 2018, will allow the McArthur Family YMCA to sell 4.42 acres of undeveloped recreation land to Amelia Park developers, who plan to build 16 residences on the property. City staff, the Planning Advisory Board, and the Amelia Park Homeowners Association supported the action.
The FBCC first considered the item at its April 17, 2018 meeting, but failed to take action after 90 minutes of hearing and discussion. At that time, commissioners appeared reluctant to take action that would reduce the amount of remaining city open space.
A second reading of the ordinance is required before final approval may be granted.
Quasi-judicial Hearing
Miriam Hill, counsel for the McArthur Family YMCA, presented their case for approval. She reminded commissioners that as staff agreed, the property is subject to commercial and residential zoning underlying the PUD. She cited earlier amendments to the PUD. She discussed the issue of transects, which was applied to the Amelia Park PUD, but not the YMCA parcel, which had been sold prior to the development of the transects.
She called as a witness Ray Klein, a member of the YMCA Advisory Board. He explained that the YMCA had never actively marketed the property. Beginning in 1998 the “Y” had explored a series of options for developing the property, but none seemed feasible. The board decided, after consultation with a broad spectrum of advisors and stakeholders, that the limited capital available would be put to better use for the community by improving existing facilities. He stressed that 100 percent of the purchase price for the 4.42 acres would stay in the community to benefit the local citizens and members of the McArthur Family YMCA.
Five additional speakers addressed the FBCC, but only Thomas Washburn spoke in opposition to the ordinance. Washburn explained his belief that since he purchased his home directly across the street from the proposed development 14 years ago, increased development has adversely impacted quality of life in the city and in Amelia Park. He noted diminishing green space that provides habitat for birds and animals.
Robert Duffy cited his background as a conservation supporter. In this particular case, he said, the property does not work for YMCA recreational use. He expressed confidence that the developers’ work to add buffers and preserve green space within the tract will be positive for Amelia Park and present “the least objectionable use of the property.”
Amelia Park Neighborhood Association president Paul Guyette told commissioners that in consultation with Amelia Park residents, the developers had reduced the number of homes to be built on the site from 30 to 16, thereby preserving 41 percent of the land as green space. “Overall we agree that this is the right decision,” he said.
Theresa Prince, counsel for the Amelia Park Neighborhood Association, explained that 35 percent of the land will be buffer. With approval, any proposed changes on the 4.42 acre site would require consent of the Neighborhood Association.
Chris Bryan, a member of the YMCA advisory board, called the proposal an excellent project that would result in a win for both the YMCA and the community.
Commission discussion
Commissioner Chip Ross on several occasions tried to refocus commissioners on the nature and intent of the quasi-judicial hearing. He reminded his peers that the matter before them was a narrow one: does the application meet all the requirements as laid out in the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code. He said that no one was taking issue with the needs of the YMCA or the benefits they provide for the community. But Ross concluded, after much research, that the application did not meet all 17 elements of the city’s Comprehensive Plan and therefore could not be approved.
Vice Mayor Len Kreger took issue with Ross’ conclusions. He said he believed that any legal issues were taken care of in the course of the Planning Advisory Board’s approval of the project. Other commissioners also disagreed with Ross, believing that the application definitely supported elements of the Comprehensive Plan. They suggested that sections Ross had highlighted were being taken out of context or not meant to be interpreted as stand alone sections.
Ross specified that he did not believe that the application met the Comprehensive Plan’s requirement for preserving open space. City Attorney Tammi Bach asked Planning Manager Kelly Gibson to address Ross’ concerns. Mayor John Miller said he would also be interested in Gibson’s explanation. She said she believed the application met the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. There had never been a specifically designated transect in the Amelia Park PUD designating the parcel as open space or preserve. City Attorney Tammi Bach indicated that it was never intended that portions of the Comprehensive Plan be read “in a vacuum;” they must be considered part of the whole.
Attorney Miriam Hill said that the Comprehensive Plan is applied through zoning. She said that recreational and open space refers to areas that are publicly owned, and the YMCA parcel is privately owned. “While the policy is to preserve public recreation lands, it does not apply to private lands, which is by license,” she said. “The public cannot just enter onto privately owned land.” Since underlying zoning is commercial (C-1) or medium density residential (R-2), she maintained that the parcel in question cannot be looked at as recreational land.
When the vote was taken, Ross and Miller voted no. Ross articulated his position during the discussion, but Miller waited until he voted. He said that he had a hard time voting for something that went against what neighboring property owners had been promised when they purchased their homes. Miller added that he thought this might be a good area to explore for pocket development of affordable housing.
The item passed 3-2 on first reading and will head to a second reading, not yet scheduled.
Perhaps the answer here would be for the city to begin to look into land trust for parcels of this size and complexity. We need to maintain open spaces, trees and the overall ecosystem associated with our island. This could be a good example of how that might work.