"If you don’t get to Mickler’s (Landing Beach Park) by 9 a.m. during the weekend, you’ll never get a spot," said Troy Blevins, county parks and recreation director, during a presentation he gave Monday morning to the Ponte Vedra Beaches Coalition.
Blevins’ statement is painfully obvious to many Ponte Vedra residents who spend their weekend mornings lurking through the parking lot, hoping to find a parking space, and a few of them were on hand during his presentation to offer suggestions and seek possible solutions.
"The Mickler’s situation is a nightmare, to say the least, and we definitely don’t have enough parking," Blevins said, responding to residents who inquired about the possibility of shuttle services for beach access points.
"We’ve also talked about the possibility of having overflow parking at the new Cornerstone Community Center unless it affects some programming issues," he added.
"We’ve talked to the Council on Aging for using their Sunshine bus, but until we get the Cornerstone Park and community center built, we’re not at that point."
The dire parking situation at Mickler’s could represent a potential obstacle if that section of Ponte Vedra Beach faces erosion threats similar to those further south near Vilano Beach, because of limited public access, according to Blevins.
"If we run into a situation where we have to do some beach renourishment and you don’t have that accessibility, you don’t have those grant dollars," he said. "There’s land for the walkover use but there’s no parking, and this isn’t the cheapest area in the world to buy land for parking."
Another possible solution, although still dependent on some type of shuttle service, is the proposed 75 acres of parking fields currently under design by Nocatee developers Parc Group, as part of a partnership with the PGA Tour and the Players Championship.
During the Players Championship, the parking fields would be used for an additional 7,500 parking spaces. During the rest of the year, PGA Tour representative Vernon Kelly has stated in the past, the field could be used for recreational activities, with maintenance funding coming from the Tour.
"There are three components to (the parking fields), there’s the Players Championship, Nocatee Developers and the county component," said county Commission Chair Tom Manuel.
"I think there will be a deal done," Manuel said, "but I think the major financial considerations are between the Players Championship and Nocatee, but I think the usage has already been granted to the county."
Jacksonville Beach unveiled its new Beaches Trolley program today, a free weekend trolley service serving Jacksonville Beach from the South Beach Regional Shopping Center north to the Beaches Town Center in Atlantic Beach.
Under the current route scheduling, trolleys are scheduled to make stops every 15 minutes at any point along the route, which was instituted to relieve traffic congestion along State Road A1A through the beaches.
Reportedly, the Jacksonville Transit Authority will supply four trolleys for the project, during a preliminary 10-week test period.
JTA has contributed a $100,000 grant to cover a portion of the costs, while Jacksonville City Councilman Art Graham, the lead proponent of the program, is tasked with securing more than 20 business sponsorships at $500 each to cover the remaining costs.
Staff writer John Woodward can be reached at 285-8831, extension 31,
or jwoodward@jcpgroup.com
July 23rd 2008 - 12:06PM