7-11 Answers Show Two Mayor Candidates in Sharp Contrast -- Shaver Beats BOLES (Again)!

St. Augustine 7-Eleven fight a topic for debate
Posted: October 23, 2014 - 12:00am
By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
Candidates for St. Augustine City Commission weighed in on the development of a 7-Eleven in downtown St. Augustine.

Some residents in the neighborhood surrounding May Street and San Marco Avenue, where the 12-pump gas station is proposed, are fighting the development.

St. Augustine City Commission candidates responded to questions, including a couple related to the 7-Eleven, at a forum Wednesday night at the county auditorium on San Sebastian View. Dozens of people attended the forum, which also featured St. Augustine Beach City Commission candidates Michael Longstreet and Margaret England.

Beach candidates fielded questions, including one about hiring an event planner for the city.

Part of the responses to the following questions have been summarized and/or paraphrased:



What lessons have we learned from the May Street and San Marco 7-Eleven and what suggestions do you have to work with this area?

Joe Boles, Seat 3/Mayor’s seat:

We have spots all over this community where businesses could come in and buy land and put something in we probably wouldn’t want to be next to. It kind of creeps up.

In Davis Shores, The Conch House’s Reggae Sunday is an imposition on the neighborhood, for instance. I remember when 7-Eleven property was a cafe then that got bulldozed and it sat for sale. It got bought and now there’s a 7-Eleven trying to come in.

First, I don’t think we ought to give up. Second, as we start to look at our zoning codes, the public around a particular parcel can take a look and say ‘maybe we should do something about it.’ There may be an opportunity for the City of St. Augustine to purchase property, but we have to hear from the residents.

We got criticized by a big segment of our community who said we shouldn’t by the M&M Market property on Bridge Street because the city shouldn’t be in the business of buying property.

We also bought a car wash on an entry corridor and got praise because it improved the entry corridor. We need to keep looking at things like that, which I’m willing to do.

As we do assessments of all of our property in the city, we’ll have a better handle of that. We rely on the public to let us know what’s in their area and what they want. Everyone has to have a seat at the table.

Nancy Shaver, Seat 3/Mayor’s seat:

The 7-Eleven is a symptom of inattention to our zoning codes for the past 25 years. It has not been updated.

The comprehensive plan calls for updates of the plan every seven years but I haven’t found evidence of that being done. The question is: What do we do and what is the right way?

I disagree with Boles, who says you should let us know what’s in your area that you’re worried about. That’s not how you update zoning.

I would propose that each of our neighborhoods in terms of updating codes, go into neighborhoods with our zoning codes as it exists and have the neighborhood identify what the hot spots are.

Had you done that, you would’ve identified the castle in Davis Shores as a hot spot. We don’t want high-impact commercial development in that area.

Once you identify that, you can’t down zone because of the risk of lawsuits, unless you compensate people. But you could limit the uses for a property that’s zoned in a way that might impact a neighborhood.

That kind of activity would be appropriate, going into neighborhoods, working methodically and identifying hot spots and adjusting as needed would be a top priority for me.

That’s what you do when you’re running a city and you want it to be livable. You’re proactive, you’re not reactive.