Steve Cottrell: San Sebastian key to solving parking problems
Posted: February 7, 2016 - 3:30pm | Updated: February 8, 2016 - 12:00am
By STEVE COTTRELL
Public Occurrences
Hate to admit it, but I’m old enough to remember Stan Freberg’s 1957 parody, “Wun’erful, Wun’erful,” lampooning Lawrence Welk and his rhythmic Champagne music.
I even recall the final words of the 78 rpm vinyl record as the Aragon Ballroom was engulfed with an endless barrage of bubbles: “Help! Help! Turn off the bubble machine. Help ... help ... ”
That’s how I feel about adding more special events in St. Augustine.
I believe it’s time for City Hall to turn off the promotional bubble machine, and I am not a lone voice in the wilderness. More and more residents are yelling, “Help! Help!”
But will City Hall listen?
On a related topic, I hope city commissioners can agree that Francis Field is a community park, not an overflow parking lot for special events.
Using Francis Field for a parking lot is, in my opinion, a dumb idea and bad public policy.
Special events aside, however, downtown parking remains a problem in search of a solution — even on normal days, especially weekends.
Satellite parking lots on St. Augustine’s periphery, as some suggest, and shuttling people to and from downtown, is not the answer. Most people want their vehicles handy — parked within walking distance.
Most do not want to wait for a shuttle bus to take them from point A to point B, then back to point A — not even a shuttle that’s free.
For what it’s worth, here’s a suggestion to help (but not fully solve) the downtown parking crunch.
I believe the city should revisit an idea that seemed popular in 2004, but died an early death.
When the economy tanked a few years ago and the San Sebastian Harbor project went into foreclosure, any possibility of a public/private parking garage venture at that location got tossed in the dumpster.
Designed to be built in the area west and south of San Sebastian Winery and west from Riberia to the banks of the San Sebastian River, the planned $70 million project called for 85 hotel rooms, 106 condos, 24,000 square feet of shops, a 10,000-square-foot spa, a 65-slip marina and ample parking.
It sounded great at the time. But only the marina was ever built, and city staff believes it is so filled with silt today that it needs to be dredged again before it can be used for its intended purpose.
When the San Sebastian Harbor plans were approved in the fall of 2004, the developer said, “We don’t want this project to drag for months and months.”
He announced that it would be completed in 18 to 24 months.
If my math is correct, that was about 135 months ago. San Sebastian Harbor was so enthusiastically welcomed by city officials that a bordering street called Lorida was renamed Sebastian Harbor Drive. Staff referred to it as an appropriate destination address.
The original developer paid the city $3.6 million for 13 acres.
On the day ground was broken, then-Mayor George Gardner said the city had been waiting 18 years for something to happen on that property.
And that was in 2005.
But it remains an open field with a marina that can’t be used.
As part of the original plan, a 518-car parking garage on 1.25 acres fronting Riberia Street was proposed.
The developer wanted the city to build it and pay for it. The city wanted a public/private partnership in order to share the cost and keep the property on city tax rolls.
In 2007, however, as the national economy was spiraling south, Wells Fargo foreclosed on the property.
So much for San Sebastian Harbor.
And so much for a large parking garage closer to the intersection of King and Cordova than the one the city built next to the Visitor Information Center.
A Sanford-based development company paid Wells Fargo $4.75 million in 2014 and now owns most of the original San Sebastian Harbor land.
If it eventually develops a scaled-down project consistent with today’s economic limitations, that would wonderful.
But in the meantime there’s a serious downtown parking problem that needs to be remedied.
I can’t think of any other open space within walking distance of downtown that can accommodate a meaningful parking garage. Can you?
Steve can be contacted at cottrell.sf@gmail.com
COMMENT
martystaug 02/08/16 - 08:20 am 00How about the downtown plaza?
How about the downtown plaza? We don't need all those monuments, gazebo or huge old live oak trees. That's what they did to Francis Field, why not the plaza too? Obviously tourist dollars are more important than quality of life for the citizens of St. Augustine. I definitely agree that it is time to turn off the promotional bubble machine. Stop this theme park mentality and get back to providing support services for us tax paying, voting citizens, instead of those few tourist related businesses that dominate the city's time, efforts and money.
No comments:
Post a Comment