ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — Dozens of people came out to the Atlantic Beach City Commission meeting to make their voices heard about an issue that sparked a lot of controversy over the weekend. The hot-button topic: baseball vs. the farmers market.
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Public comment lasted for nearly two hours at one of the largest turnouts city leaders say they’ve seen.
This comes after some baseball players were forced to push back their practice time at Jack Russell Park from Sunday mornings to 2:30 p.m. to make way for the farmers market.
The meeting revealed this stemmed from an environmental issue.
“Baseball is more than just a game,” a nine-year-old boy said during public comment.
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“This is an outlet and something that the parents and the coaches can teach these kids about leadership,” a baseball parent said during public comment.
Many kids, parents, and even two former mayors of Atlantic Beach shared their concerns about losing the baseball fields to the farmers market.
Neighbors said it’s related to the city’s Environmental Stewardship Committee – their effort to protect trees means not enough parking is available for both the baseball practice/games and the farmer’s market.
The city has a bill to remove “active parks from ESC’s scope” but neighbors said that bill is confusing, and there was not enough communication about the ordinance proposal.
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“It was perplexing; it was a disappointing decision by the city, and we couldn’t understand where it came out from, it kind of came from left field,” Atlantic Beach Athletic Association Coach Nathan Loewen said.
Meanwhile, people from the farmers market admitted there are growing pains with the growth of the market and the ball game. But business owners say they hope to find a solution to coexist.
“We don’t want to be going against each other, we want to be a unit together,” farmers market endor Doug Essig said.
The meeting had many people wearing green stickers with a pause symbol essentially asking the commissioners to “pause the process and preserve Atlantic Beach life.”
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The city commissioners decided to table it for 45 days.
The mayor acknowledged the problem and took accountability.
“We failed to communicate, and we will rectify that, and as your mayor I take responsibility,” Mayor Curtis Ford said.
After public comment, the city leaders continued the discussion trying to find solutions to the matter.
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