NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Fernandina Beach City Commissioners took the next steps to make the Amelia Waterfront Park a reality. Tuesday night they voted unanimously 5-0 to approve the final design for the park that would be located at Parking Lots C and D near South Front Street.
The project has been talked about for years but was never able to get off the ground for different reasons. The city plans to use $2 million in impact fees to help pay for the park.
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Public comment had a mix of people for and against the project.
Marianne Phillips spoke against the project during her time at the podium. She spoke in honor of her mother who recently passed away, saying that her mother advocated for the shrimping industry. She’s hoping to carry on her mother’s legacy and feels the park is not the right fit for the area.
“People do not come down here to this waterfront to enjoy a park. They come down here to see their shrimp boats. They come down here to see the sunsets and they’re not out there playing,” Phillips said. “Kids are not going to come over here and play in a little circle area, whatever that little circle area is.”
She hoped that commissioners would vote against the project.
“I will continue to say no to this and I’m asking y’all re-design, do whatever you’ve got to do to preserve our working waterfront and the shrimpers,” Phillips said.
John Abbott, president of the Amelia Island Boules Club, spoke during public comment. While he’s in favor of the park, he wants to ensure the petanque courts that were taken from the Marina are restored elsewhere in the city.
“Our message this evening is that the work is not quite done yet, because we need to have our 16 competition courts restored somewhere else downtown,” Abbott explained.
Outside of his concern for the petanque courts, Abbott thinks the park will be a great benefit to the community.
“There’s a lot of detail, there’s a lot of work to be done, a lot of you know, still some thought and design thought to be put into it,” Abbott said. “But I think it’s a win for the community and I fully support it.”
News4JAX spoke with Interim City Manager Jeremiah Glisson on Friday about the project. He says making improvements like the waterfront park is something they try to do carefully, especially considering the amount of people the city attracts.
“You want to maintain the historic feel. You want to keep the charm that makes Fernandina what it is today, a vibrant clean community,” said Glisson. “So you make those improvements, you got to be careful and you got to make those adjustments in a methodical planned out way.”
On Friday, Glisson told News4JAX the next part of the process includes putting a bid out for construction in a few weeks. The hope is for construction to start in September or October, with a goal to have a majority of the work done by the end of this year.