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04 Apr 04
(old Waterfront page) After attending the Charettes, which were
wonderfully presented by the Ivey Group, and seeing the presentations by
groups of citizens who worked on their concepts of what the waterfront
should look like, the handwriting on the wall became very clear. The public
needs to continue to be involved in this process in order to support the
efforts of those who are trying to keep the westside of Front Street open
for the citizens to enjoy. On Saturday the Ivy Group had a map with their
interpretation of ideas from the citizens. It showed the westside of Front
Street kept as a working waterfront, an area to honor the shrimping industry
that is a vital part of Fernandina Beach as well as Amelia Island. It had a
large park area where the parking is on the northside of Bretts, continuing
to the southside as well. It included a proposed boardwalk from the
shrimping area to Cook's dock on the Southside. It was more in keeping with
what we invision for the citizens and visitors alike to enjoy.
One of the groups presented their interpretation of
what some people want for the waterfront. This one showed the city owned
space as a park, with private property filled with million dollar
condos/shops along the waterfront on the westside of Front Street. This
rendition also showed boardwalks from the north end of the waterfront to the
south end, passing in front of the condos/retail with alleyways between the
condos giving people access to the boardwalk with pavilions scattered along
the route. This gave the residents of Fernandina and the visitors alike our
"limited" view and access to the waterfront. This is when reality really
hits…. do we really think that the owners of these million dollar condos are
going to want to have a public boardwalk in front of their private balconies
as they are out enjoying their morning coffee or their evening cocktail?
There will probably be boardwalks but will it have gates with signs reading
“ PRIVATE, NO PUBLIC ACCESS”? Just because private property is in the CRA
does not mean the owners have to give any right of way for public access.
According to an Ivy Group Representative it has to be negotiated.
Do we need the CRA? This is also a question
that each one of us needs to ask. Part of the money for CRA's come from
grants that are available for waterfront projects as well as money for other
aspects of blighted areas. One question from the"NO CRA" point of view is:
why doesn’t the city just pursue the grant money that is available, clean up
the city’s property and put in the green space, park area that the residents
want, enforce the laws and codes that make the private property owners clean
up their blighted area and end up with the same result without the CRA?
This is a very difficult process that needs much
public input. The public still has opportunities to attend the upcoming
City Commission Meetings on April
6th and 20th as well as a special meeting of the Planning and
Advisory Board on April
28th.
We need you all to come out and speak at this meetings, to be part of the
decision making process before the projected date for adopting this
CRA which is June
1.
This commentary by
Concerned Friends of Fernandina
A concerned citizen's view:
Click here
28 Mar 04
(Waterfront page) Another view
Come one, Come all…..A notice in the paper states the following:
” The public is invited to share observations and make comments about a proposed
waterfront Community Redevelopment Agency during three workshops at the Hampton
Inn & Suites on Second Street”.
The Ivey Group, who has been hired by the City of Fernandina Beach, will be
conducting “charettes” for public input. (A charette is a technique used by
practitioners to involve various individuals and organizations of a community
directly in the planning, programming, or design of a project. A community
design charette implies a marathon work session that compresses decision making
into a few hours or days). We believed that they wanted public input until we
saw the schedule where the only “collection of your ideas for the waterfront “
takes place on a Friday from 8:30AM – 5PM…..makes one wonder…..what about all
the public who work? When do they get to give any input?
We have heard these “charettes” referred to as “charades” because the public
no longer believes they are heard in the city’s decision making process. Lets
show that we are interested in what happens to our community, that we do want to
be heard regarding what happens to our most precious asset, our waterfront.
So, ask yourself, do I want the Ivey Group to have the entire say so regarding
the waterfront or do we want to be part of these discussions? You can bet that
all the developers will be there encouraging city staff to develop new zoning
laws, height changes for buildings and 0 side yard setbacks to take away the
entire view of the river.
You must also remember, there is no rule against lot consolidation on the
riverfront. One project that is trying to get approval is Sunset Harbor,
condominiums that would be located on the Amelia River. Do you want your
waterfront totally blocked or are you willing to give up your time to show up
and give your input? Do you want to see all the shrimp boats moved away from
the river as they aren’t “pretty” enough for new development?
Please do all possible to attend on Friday the 2nd because on Saturday it’ll
be to late.
Let us join together and see that our input is important, that our attendance at
the three workshops will make a difference in the revival of the waterfront.
April 1, Thursday, 5:30-8:30 PM - Intro and Kickoff
April 2, Friday, 8:30AM – 5PM - Collection of Citizen’s Ideas For
Waterfront
April 3, Saturday, 9:00AM – Noon - Summary and Charette of Citizen’s Input
Judith Ann Belz, Fernandina
Beach
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