By PETER GUINTA
Senior Writer
Publication Date: 03/23/04
The St. Augustine City Commission voted 3-2 Monday to go ahead with plans to the old fire station to a drive-through customer service center.
Commissioner Errol Jones moved to delay the $228,000 project's first phase, but only got support from Commissioner Bill Lennon.
John Regan, city chief of operations, told the commission that the Parking and Traffic Committee had voted 6-4 to recommend razing the building and creating 30 more spaces for the lot behind the Lightner Museum and City Hall.
Placing a customer service center there with a drive-through option could increase the rate of turnover of customers paying water bills or traffic tickets, Regan said.
Those customers would not have to park and find the right offices in City Hall, he said.
"This lessens demand for parking and even adds six spaces," Regan said.
But residents both north and south of the Plaza de la Constitucion spoke against the project, saying it makes no sense not to use parking south of the Plaza.
Richard Pinto, president of the Historic Area Council,u2002said the city has seen increased growth and less parking.
"I certainly don't see how 30 extra spaces are a bad bet," Pinto said.
Sandy Krebs said this issue was apparently not personal enough to the commissioners, because they didn't have to find parking there.
"What would possess you all to make a decision like this?" Krebs said. "It's a ridiculous and costly mistake."
Elizabeth Holiday, 11 Aviles St., said the final project cost is $371,000.
While other cities downsize, St. Augustine is in the midst of a "spending frenzy," she said.
"The best use of that property is parking, plain and simple. The last thing we need is more cars on our streets. We have 10,000 square feet of unused space in City Hall. What we don't have is parking," Holiday said.
No members of the public spoke in support of the project.
Burk said that once tourists parked in the completed Visitor Information Center garage, spaces in the Lightner lot would become available.
"Just because we don't agree with you doesn't mean we don't listen," Burk said. "I've heard nothing this evening that changes my mind."
Gardner said he wasn't happy with the cost.
"More important than the decision being made is the process in which it is made," he said. "The traffic this building will bring is already there. It will just be there for a shorter time."
Crichlow said the customer service center would "benefit the vast majority of St. Augustine residents, not just those south of King Street. It is a very good use for that building."
Jones said he initially supported tearing down the building, but then saw the service center as a reasonable option.
"Now, I'm hearing concern," he said. "I think the best decision is no decision, which would give us the opportunity to listen and address other alternatives."
City Manager Bill Harriss said the cost to renovate City Hall is $300,000 to $400,000 for 4,000 square feet.
"This is a historic building," he said. "But, if you choose not to do this, it'll work out fine."
After the vote, John Marples, a member of the Parking Committee, said a lot of people want the building saved.
"There is a small but vocal group who want to tear it down. It's a miniature Lightner garage issue all over again," he said.
Dennis Mooney, president of the Old City South Neighborhood Association, said that when the Lightner garage issue died two years ago, people were relieved.
"I told them I didn't think it was dead," Mooney said. "This is the effort of a small special interest group to breathe life into the Lightner garage. They have to deal with this with a wooden stake and a crucifix. Or it will be back."
n In other action, the commission passed a resolution, adopted a community plan, held a public hearing, then held a quick workshop -- all to meet the requirements for a grant application going to the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
The $750,000 grant would help pay for part of the South Avenida Menendez Seawall Project.
About 1,100 feet of the historic granite seawall, built in the 1840s, runs from the City Marina to the Florida National Guard property and needs replacement.
About $400,000 would relocate utilities underground, $290,000 would pay for sidewalks and pedestrian malls, and $60,000 for administration.
Harriss said, "There's no money for the seawall. Yet we had to have a design to get the money. This is one of those stops. The block grant segment allows use of the money for landscaping and general aesthetic improvements."
© The St. Augustine Record
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