TDC Taking Another Run at Beach "Harmonization"

By Mike Lednovich

The Tourist Development Council's highly criticized redesign of three city beach parks is up for approval Tuesday by the Fernandina Beach City Commission.

The TDC's "beach harmonization" project proposes all seven of the island's beach parks have the same look and feel to attract more visitors.

The designer EDSA’s plan document says "The harmonization effort is to create a cohesive group of beach parks serving infrastructural and aesthetic purposes. The infrastructure at all beach parks - structures, facilities, way-finding, pedestrian comfort facilities, etc - are outdated and/or missing from both the City of Fernandina Beach and Nassau County beach parks."

When the plans were presented to the public and the city commission last year it received a major thumbs down.

At Main Beach, for example, the final conceptual plan includes an amphitheater, a kids' splash pad/play area, wind art, and a new skate park.

Numerous people told the TDC and the designers at a workshop last September that the beach park plan designs were intended to attract more tourists and not to serve local residents.

“We know why people come here as visitors and to live. People come here because of the natural environment. They come here because it’s partially natural and authentic. People are bailing out of cities all over the country,” Margaret Kirkland said at the workshop. “And yet, we are on the verge of changing this to the type of place they are running from, not the kind of place they’re coming to … I am concerned about this kind of mismatch where we are not reflecting in our plan what the public is indicating it is interested in.”

Joyce Tuten said the harmonization project greatly diminished Amelia Island as a place to enjoy the natural beauty of a barrier island.

“This is an incredibly unique island. We have the tallest dune in the state. We are bounded on the north and southern end with state parks. Tourists know this and are crazy discerning,” Tuten said at the workshop. “When we were all younger and traveled, you were lucky to find a phone or travel book when you went someplace blindly. Tourists don’t travel blindly anymore. They Google image the heck out of every place they’re going and every single advertisement that comes out of this island has the spanning, sweeping views of the nature that’s here. I feel like this organization that was hired to do this harmonization plan didn’t do their homework.”

When EDSA presented the plan document to the city commission on two occasions it was also met with more negative feedback.

"This process is a 10- to 20-year plan and the funding (for it) has not been determined," said Vice Mayor Len Kreger.

The plans for North Beach, Main Beach and Seaside Park would add hundreds of feet of additional boardwalks and numerous pavilions.

Commissioner Chip Ross said of the beach park designs "we're paving over paradise." He added that the designs would result in overcrowding of city beaches according to a beach use study by the University of Florida. "This is for tourists," Ross said. "And we're adding more and more infrastructure (to the city) and how are we going to be able to pay for taking care of all of this? We can’t take care of what we have now."