FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — The city of Fernandina Beach is now looking over proposals for companies interested in putting paid parking kiosks downtown after closing its window for applications.
Action News Jax first told you two months ago about the city’s talks of going from free to paid parking downtown, which some city commissioners tell us hasn’t been around in about 50 years.
Sarah Campbell, the city’s manager, said paid parking is still just an idea that hasn’t yet been approved by city commissioners, but that it could be a way for the city to get money for some of its projects.
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“The paid parking program could generate about $2 million a year,” Campbell said, “We’re looking in the $30 to $40 million range for those projects.”
Some of those projects include building a seawall and making repairs on Centre Street, one of the areas downtown being considered for paid parking.
The city said it might not be able to receive enough funding for those projects if it doesn’t use a revenue-generating measure like paid parking, unless it receives enough money in state grants, instead.
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“This would be really a premium parking program that would only apply to about 40% of the parking spaces that are available downtown,” said Campbell.
The city hasn’t yet shared exactly how much parking fees would be if a paid parking program were put in place, or which spots would be charged. But if only about 40% of the 660 parking spaces the city says are located in the downtown area would be charged, that would add up to around 264 total spots.
People we spoke with who were visiting Fernandina Beach told us, for the most part, that the thought of paid parking is driving them away.
“I hate it,” said Sean Robertson, visiting from out of town, “it just detracts from the city a lot.”
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Business owners like Stephen Colwell, who has owned Fantastic Fudge on Centre Street for the last 30 years, said he is worried how paid parking would affect the number of people who come downtown.
“I think it’s a horrible idea,” Colwell said, “if you start charging for parking, then we’ll probably lose most of our local people.”
The city said it’s going to be taking up more public feedback before making any decisions on whether or not to implement paid parking. A town hall will be held at City Hall on June 24th.
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