St. Michael’s resolves parking issues with city of Fernandina Beach

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
July 22, 2019 3:00 p.m.

After two years of planning and working with Fernandina Beach city officials, St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church finally found a way to come into compliance with parking requirements for their expanded church seating and auxiliary buildings that would pass muster with both the Technical Review Committee (TRC) and the Historic District Council (HDC).

After multiple continuances, the HDC heard 3 cases put forward by the church and its architect Jose Miranda at their July 18, 2019 Regular Meeting:  two renewed applications for demolition of non-contributing, church-owned buildings (HDC cases 2019-24 and 2019-25 ) and a new case (HDC 2019-27) to relocate a contributing primary structure (the Liberty Billings House, also owned by the church); redesign and enlarge a parking lot.  The HDC unanimously approved all three cases.

St. Michael’s initially sought permission to expand their campus along the east side of North 5th Street between Broome and Calhoun Streets to allow for construction of a new church office building and expanded parking.  The plan required demolition of two non-contributing buildings and moving the historic Liberty Billings House slightly north on the property.

City staff and Historic District neighbors had significant issues with the building plans for the new office, claiming that the structure was out of scale with neighboring buildings in the residential neighborhood.  Other neighbors feared the expanded parking plans would endanger old trees that provide shade to their yards.

In the course of reviewing the church’s plans for new construction, city staff noted that the church was in violation of their parking agreement with the city, entered into as a proviso for receiving permission to expand the church sanctuary in 2015.  At that time the church had agreed to use the lot on North 5th Street for valet parking to accommodate the required number of cars.  However, the valet parking plan did not work, and church patrons reverted to self-parking.  This meant that there were insufficient spaces according to city calculations.

Although the church and the city explored multiple possibilities to solve the problem, they were not successful, thereby hampering any parish plans for further expansion of the church campus.

The revised plans approved by the HDC do not include the building of a new church office on the site of the existing one that is slated for demolition.  Instead, the Liberty Billings House will be relocated from its current location mid block on North 5th Street to the corner of North 5th and Broome Street, where it will face Broome Street.  The existing parking lot behind that structure will be expanded northward to encompass the area formerly occupied by the Billings House and the second non-contributing building slated for demolition.

With this new plan, trees along the backside of the property will be saved.  The church also plans to add landscaping buffers and a sidewalk along North 5th Street.

No start date for construction has been set.  Nor has there been any public discussion of future plans about a rumored new church office in another location near the property.  

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.