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Fernandina Beach board leans toward maximum parking standards, asks staff for examples; transportation pilot discussed
Summary
Planning staff recommended a range of parking-code options including eliminating minimums in favor of maximums and providing flexibility for mixed-use and specific business types; the board directed staff to develop examples and also heard a transportation update about a micro-transit pilot and a plan to test Ready Ride service.
Fernandina Beach's Planning Advisory Board on July 10 discussed a potential overhaul of parking regulations that could remove some minimum parking requirements in favor of maximums and greater flexibility, and directed staff to prepare practical examples before any code change.
Planning staff explained that the Central Business District (CBD) already has no minimum parking requirement and reviewed chapter 4 and chapter 7 of the Land Development Code that govern parking. Staff identified problem areas where the current minimum-plus-maximum approach has proved unwieldy: medical and dental clinics, salons and barbers, and mixed-use developments where applying both residential and nonresidential standards can overrequire parking. Staff said one option is to set maximum parking standards with no minimums in some zones, or to retain minimums selectively for some uses.
"So we're only talking today about those areas of the community where minimum standards are required," staff said, noting the downtown exception and examples where existing standards have constrained redevelopment.
Board members debated trade-offs. Some said eliminating minimums and establishing maximums could spur redevelopment and reduce impervious surface, allowing redevelopment of large surface lots into buildings that produce more long-term tax revenue. Others warned that tenant turnover could cause future parking shortfalls (for example, a shopping center that shifts from low-demand tenants to medical offices). Several members recommended a cautious, staged approach and asked staff to provide before-and-after visual examples and local case studies, including an 8th Street overlay analysis where small parcels and on-street reliance make parking especially challenging.
On transportation, staff reported that a micro-transit pilot has budgeted start-up funds this year to provide on-demand last-mile service and that the county is pursuing a small-urban designation that affects funding and management through JTA. Staff provided the Nassau Transit contact number for the existing service used locally ("261-0700," with area code 904 provided in the meeting) and encouraged board members to try Ready Ride and report back on its availability and reliability.
Public commenter Laurie Hemke urged the board to align parking and transportation planning, to involve local business owners in 8th Street discussions, and to remember island constraints such as heat, shade needs and cycling/walking priorities. "You cannot look at [parking and transportation] in isolation," Hemke said, urging integration with the community's 2045 vision.
Next steps: staff will research minimum-vs-maximum scenarios, provide visual examples and local case studies (including 8th Street), and return recommendations to the board for more detailed review.
"I think taking it sequentially here, because you're looking at sort of the bigger picture first, and then the more detailed aspects of it secondary to that would be the way," said planning staff.
