Vilano Beach Town Center was recently designated as a Florida Trail Town at the Sept. 14 Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Greenways and Trails council meeting held in Titusville, joining Malabar, Clermont, Titusville and Dunedin as one of the first five designated trail towns in the State of Florida.
A “trail town” in Florida is a community located along or in proximity to one or more long-distance, non-motorized recreational trails, including cycling, paddling, equestrian or hiking trails where users can venture off the trail to enjoy the services and unique heritage of the nearby community. At the meeting, Vilano Beach Main Street President Vivian Browning was on hand to present the Town Center’s application and answer questions on why this designation was sought.
“We knew we needed a revitalization that would create a commercial/residential district which would bring local services and would be a sustainable, pedestrian-friendly Town Center that would also celebrate and protect our recreational and environmental assets,” Browning said. “The designation is sure to energize foot traffic to the Town Center, stimulating business investment and opportunities for further growth. All will greatly benefit from the alternative modes of transportation and enhanced services. Locals will be the majority of participants.”
The trail town designation comes on the heels of several visioning improvement designations, including: becoming a 1999 Waterfronts Florida Community, a member community along the nationally designated 2002 A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway and a 2003 Florida Main Street community. St. Johns County staff and commissioners aided Vilano Town Center and its citizen leaders in moving toward a pedestrian and cycle friendly community, on top of numerous grants and much technical assistance. Oct. 17 marks the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Town Center Streetscape and Infrastructure Project.
The Vilano Town Center boasts wide sidewalks, recreational pavilions, restaurants, camp grounds, a Publix, hotels, docks, boat ramps, shops and multiple parks with beach access on the Atlantic Ocean and river access at Matanzas Inlet. Converging in this state-designated Main Street community is the A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway, with an emerging 10-foot-wide A1A Multi-use Trail from Vilano to Ponte Vedra. Multiple trails in Ponte Vedra and Palm Valley remain in development and continue northward along A1A, which now has bike lanes, to Fernandina Beach. The Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail converges from the ocean to the inlet. The Vilano Town Center from ocean to river is a short 30-minute walk.
Doug Alderson, assistant bureau chief and trail town coordinator with the Florida Office of Greenways and Trails, encouraged other communities to use the trail town designation process as a mechanism of growth, stating: “Vilano Beach earned this designation by providing great signage and safe access for bicyclists and pedestrians to its many downtown amenities. The town is also uniquely situated to offer camping and great food to long-distance paddlers on the 1,515-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail, so this designation is indeed a win-win for both the town and trail users.”
