FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – The Fernandina Beach City Commission discussed a plan Tuesday to bring additional parking to the downtown area.
Residents heard about a parking garage being built in the existing library parking lot and other possible downtown and special event parking places.
Some city leaders like the mayor, other commissioners, and some residents at the workshop were against the plan.
“If we build something that’s going to cost a ton of money, we’re going to be charged for parking and I think that it gets to a place if tourists are coming here. They have plenty of money but there’s a lot of people who live here that are on fixed incomes and it would deter those people from coming down,” Sheila Cocchi said.
Cocchi expressed possible ideas to deal with the parking issues.
“I think that we have a lot of open parking lots. We have shopping centers that certain hours of the evening their businesses are closed and there’s lots that sit completely empty. If cars were parking there, and we had a shuttle bus that could pick people up and bring them,” Cocchi said.