Deeper dive into waterfront plan

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
April 5, 2017 12:55 p.m.

During a hastily convened workshop that immediately preceded their April 4, 2017 Regular Meeting, Fernandina Beach City Commissioners (FBCC) attempted to find common ground in defining the scope of work for Dix.Hite+Partners, the consultant firm selected to develop a master plan for the waterfront along the Amelia River. City Manager Dale Martin sought FBCC input prior to negotiating both scope and price for the project.

Commissioners and consultants exchanged views for an hour. However, it appeared that while the FBCC was unanimous in their desire for a plan for a waterfront park, there was no consensus on whether the plan should include all of downtown or whether it should extend into phases to be constructed over the next 5-20 years.

Three commissioners—Mayor Robin Lentz, John Miller and Tim Poynter—appeared to endorse the need for a long-term plan to address future as well as current needs. Vice Mayor Len Kreger and Commissioner Roy Smith seemed to balk at a wide-ranging planning effort, preferring to limit the consultants’ work to developing a waterfront park. Even those commissioners supporting the big picture plan, expressed “sticker shock” over the initial cost estimate of $280,000.

Consultants Greg Bryla and Beth Lemke listened as commissioners raised a variety of concerns about scope and direction of the planning effort.

Bryla stressed that development of a master plan must be done in an open, transparent process. He acknowledged that previous studies had been done but added that the existing data needed to be validated in order to be presented as truth. He said that the number of public workshops proposed would bring people together and define terms to further enhance public understanding of the work needing to be done. He cited the strength of the public process in developing a master plan for Jacksonville Beach, which is now implementing Phase 2 of their plan ten years after implementing the first phase.

Vice Mayor Kreger said that his goal was to look at the waterfront and the marina. He said that the waterfront is about a quarter mile in length, and about half of that is owned by the city. He laid blame for the failure to implement plans that had been developed previously on former city commissions. Based upon information that the city already has, Kreger expressed his desire to limit the scope to a “more realistic plan.”

Commissioner Tim Poynter disagreed. He said that he wanted to see the consultants produce a plan to deal with all the problems downtown, not just the waterfront and the marina. “I want to put all those pieces together,” he said, “including traffic patterns and parking.” He went on to say that the city needs to look ahead to understand where the downtown will be in 15-20 years, especially in light of plans calling for 40,000 new dwellings in Yulee and ever increasing tourism numbers. “If we continue to do nothing,” Poynter said, “[growth in these numbers] will run us over.” He supported a phased approach for implementation over a series of years.

Poynter reminded commissioners that he was part of a failed attempt to implement broad changes during his first term on the commission. Even though a strategic plan had been approved and money had been borrowed to begin projects like the waterfront park, the commission has not done a good job of involving the community in the development of the plan, commonly called Forward Fernandina. Poynter said that it was imperative to get community buy-in for any master plan, adding that a healthy downtown was essential to a healthy city. He suggested that by starting with the downtown, improvement efforts would spread throughout the city.

Commissioner Roy Smith, who lived in both South Florida and the Tampa Area before moving to Fernandina Beach, said that by comparison there is no traffic in Fernandina Beach. He said, “I don’t know how much more we can develop. I don’t want to see the city turn into a St. Augustine.” Later he said, “We need to stop tourism at some point to keep a sense of the city.”

Consultant Beth Lemke said that their team has a lot of expertise in many areas, enabling them to “connect the dots.” Even though commissioners want to focus on the waterfront, the consultants feel it is important to consider access to the waterfront. Consultant Greg Bryla reminded the FBCC that everything is not going to max out in two years, but added that traffic circulation in the Front Street area must be considered. In talking with people about topics like removing parking from the waterfront, the likely response will be questions about where will the parking move.

Commissioner John Miller said, “We have a walking problem [downtown], not a parking problem.” He concurred with Poynter that the FBCC needed to look at the big picture. “I am a bartender,” he said. “I want to get advice from the experts.”

Kreger was not convinced. He said, “We do better managing as a city than managing by consultant.” He went on to say that the city has a history of paying money for plans that just “sit on the shelf.” He said, “We should be able to use our staff to implement the plans we already have.”

Poynter, in responding to Smith’s concerns, said, “People are going to come here, whether we like it or not. There are also property rights to be considered. You can’t tell someone who owns commercially zoned property that they can’t open a business. It’s about planning for the future.” In response to Kreger’s comment about doing the work in-house, Poynter said, “We have tried to do [big projects] in house before. But staff is slammed with day-to-day work, leaving them no time to work on such matters.”

Mayor Robin Lentz allowed that all of her priorities were included in the scope of work outlined by the consultants. She supported bringing in consultants from outside the community to achieve objectivity. But she readily admitted that her biggest problem was sticker shock at the cost. She encouraged the consultants to work with the City Manager to look at a plan as a whole, but break it down into phases.

Poynter suggested that spending money wisely upfront with lots of community involvement would achieve greater community buy-in. He added that one of the reasons that nothing seems to get done is that the city is always searching for the perfect plan that everyone supports.

Kreger then took a new tack, suggesting that the FBCC involve the beaches in a 20-year plan. He talked about a referendum, to which Lentz replied that a referendum had to be based on a plan with specifics and costs, neither of which the city currently possesses.

Smith returned to the parking problem, suggesting that existing parking lots C and D needed to remain parking lots. He said, “We don’t try to get people to park where we want.” Both Poynter and Miller added that the city-owned parking lot on Broome Street is rarely used.

At the close of the meeting, Lemke said to Mayor Lentz, “What I heard you say is that you like the scope, but not the price tag.” Lentz agreed, suggesting that perhaps city staff could help out in some way to lower costs. Lemke said, “I am a problem solver and an implementer. I want to see this plan built.”

The contract award for the project was pulled from the Regular Meeting agenda. City Manager Martin will return to the negotiating table with the consultants to try to revise the scope and lower the price tag.

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.