Panama City presents community-driven marina design; consultants propose phased plan with parks, slips and mixed-use
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Summary
City staff and consultants presented follow-up designs for the downtown marina drawn from January workshops and a public survey; proposals prioritize public access, marina infrastructure and a phased mix of commercial, limited residential and park space, while leaving final engineering and funding decisions to later steps.
City Manager Jonathan Hayes and a consultant team presented a community-driven follow-up design for the Panama City marina site, emphasizing public access, preservation of marina functions and incremental phasing tied to fiscal feasibility.
The presentation, led by consultant Amy Groves and designer Claire Williams, reflected input from roughly 170 workshop participants and an exit survey. Groves said the community most frequently cited “attractions and education” (including an amphitheater and marine science ideas), parks and open space, and marina infrastructure needs such as boat ramps, trailer parking and restrooms.
Williams walked through the consultants’ sketches and scenarios. She said the plan favors small 1,000–3,000-square-foot ground-floor commercial footprints with one-to-three-story building heights placed on higher ground to avoid FEMA VE/AE flood zones. “The Marina should primarily serve as a public waterfront destination,” Williams said, describing four signature park spaces (an amphitheater lawn, waterfront lawn, central lawn and T-dock linear parks) and a continuous waterfront promenade.
On marina infrastructure, staff and consultants said the first 45–50 slips are expected to be fixed, with the remaining roughly 150 slips to be decided by phased engineering (a mix of floating and fixed slips and some lifts). The consultants presented a development scenario that assumes about 96,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, roughly 160,000 square feet of residential space (about 150 units in that scenario), and 545 on-site parking spaces supplemented by shared downtown parking and event-day shuttles.
The team outlined five guiding ideas—public access, enhancing marina infrastructure, extending Harrison Avenue downtown, maintaining human scale, and fiscal responsibility—and proposed four implementation phases: (1) Western Basin improvements and boat-trailer parking, (2) Harrison Avenue streetscape and site infrastructure, (3) Eastern Basin improvements and an amphitheater parcel, and (4) T-dock improvements and western parcel prep. Williams said phasing and detailed fiscal analysis will be refined with PFM and other financial advisers.
The city noted engineered construction plans already exist for an enlarged boat ramp and associated parking but said funding must be secured. Hayes said presentation materials and the full input summary will be posted to the city website and encouraged attendees to return exit surveys or email additional comments.
Next steps: the city will publish the materials online, seek funding analyses and hold additional public briefings and town halls as the plan moves into more detailed fiscal and engineering review.
