Weekly comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin

October 12, 2018 12:00 p.m.

City Manager Dale Martin

The subject of paid beach parking will be considered at Tuesday evening’s City Commission meeting. This discussion is part of the City Commission goals established earlier this year in Resolution 2018-30: determine whether to implement paid beach parking (deadline: October 31, 2018). Since Tuesday night’s meeting is the last regularly scheduled meeting in October, in order to provide the City Commission the opportunity to achieve their stated goal, it is necessary to present the issue for discussion.

This goal is actually the final of a series of beach-related goals adopted through Resolution 2018-30. Three earlier goals called for the development of the Beach Rangers, the creation of a Beach Committee, and an inventory of beach parking.

Following the effort of the Beach Committee regarding paid beach parking, I presented a recommendation to the City Commission at a workshop on September 25. My recommendation was, and remains, that paid parking at the beaches will provide additional revenue to attend to the growing costs associated with beach operations, maintenance, and capital projects. As it stands, City residents, through their property taxes, bear a disproportionate burden for those costs in relation to other users of the beaches.

The original recommendation was to implement seasonal paid parking at the key beach parking areas (Main Beach and Seaside Park). All users would be subject to the parking fees at those locations.

Following the original presentation and recommendation, the Beach Committee has considered an alternative recommendation. In fact, through comments provided to me by City Commissioners in response to the original recommendation, the alternative concept has been offered by many residents.

The most vocal argument against the original proposal was that City residents, due to their local property tax support, shouldn’t be further burdened with additional beach parking costs. Many residents questioned the value of being a City taxpayer- what benefits do I receive for the higher taxes that I pay as an actual resident of the City? To clarify, the financial benefits to City residency are modestly limited to discounts at City recreational facilities and Golf Course, to an additional collection of garbage, and to the sweeping of streets. Even as the City Manager, it is difficult to justify City residency (especially when, as often cited before, City residents give away the most costly City services- public safety- to non-City residents).

In light of that concern, perhaps paid beach parking can be promoted as a benefit to City residents. The proposed Resolution before the City Commission on Tuesday night reflects that concept through new conditions. First, City residents, as validated with a driver’s license and vehicle registration both corresponding to an address within the city limits (not simply a mailing address), will not be charged for beach parking. Beach parking registrations will be handled annually for residents.

Second, paid beach parking will be implemented at all City parking facilities. This includes not only Main Beach and Seaside Park facilities, but all beach access areas along Fletcher Avenue. Third, paid beach parking will be implemented on a year-round basis, not only seasonally. A fourth condition is a catch-all for any other conditions that the City Commission wishes to include. The proposed Resolution instructs me to present to the City Commission an implementation plan satisfying the aforementioned conditions at the December 18, 2018, City Commission meeting.

The key point in this discussion, as mentioned earlier, revolves around the rising cost of beach operations. Beach operations are paid for by City residents. The Tourist Development Council (TDC), through the bed tax on hotel guests, provides some funding for beach maintenance (specifically trash collection, an issue that has its own series of ongoing discussions) and paid over $800,000 for the current beach renourishment program (a $32 million project in conjunction with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers).

The commonly referred to “sand tax,” paid by all Amelia Island residents, does not pay for beach operations. If the TDC expects to continue its financial support for future renourishment projects, I’d advocate for a reduction in the sand tax levy (especially if a different levy is being considered for a “tree tax”). “Sand tax” revenues are not used for Ocean Rescue or Beach Ranger personnel, for routine maintenance, or for capital projects.

Current beach operations costs to the City exceed $300,000 after reimbursement is provided by the County for Ocean Rescue services at Peters Point and by the TDC for trash services. It is City residents who carry the freight for those remaining costs. Since significant funds are necessary for long-neglected capital needs (nearly two dozen beach walkovers need to be repaired or replaced), it is imperative that an alternative source of funding be developed.

If adopted Tuesday night, the formal implementation of paid parking- for non-City residents- will be presented in December.