Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Atlantic Beach Looks At Expanding Paid Parking Area

News4Jax
Beaches Town Center

It may soon become even harder to find a free parking spot at the Beaches as Atlantic Beach looks at expanding paid parking in the area.

The Atlantic Beach City Commission is considering extending paid parking to the 18th Street and 19th Street beach accesses, City Manager Shane Corbin told WJCT News on Monday.

The current expansion discussion doesn't include any side streets but Corbin added, "We might need to create no parking zones or resident only parking zones if parking starts 'creeping' onto other streets."

Several workshops have been held, and the Commission discussed the idea at length at its June 14 meeting, agreeing a refined proposal would be put together and discussed during at a future meeting.

As a starting point, the Commission heard from Atlantic Beach Planning and Community Development Director Amanda Askew. She summarized the current paid parking program at the Beaches Town Center, using it as a potential model for the expansion.

“If you remember, you get your first 30 minutes free. Atlantic Beach registered citizens get to park for three hours free. After that, it's a $1 every half hour. And if you're not a registered Atlantic Beach resident, it is just the first 30 minutes free and then $1 per half hour,” Askew said.

Askew speculated that a potential pilot program would be seasonal.

“So we're looking for direction and feedback if you're interested in going with a pilot program - the rates and structures - and then potentially the hours of operation,” she said.

The commission discussed the merits of various pricing plans, as well as keeping pricing uniform with the Beaches Town Center parking rates.

Atlantic Beach Mayor Ellen Glasser said she wants to the city move forward with a targeted pilot program. “I think we should focus on the summer, Friday through Sunday,” she recommended.

The next step will be for Atlantic Beach City Manager Shane Corbin to incorporate the commission’s discussion into a refined proposal.

“Please reach out if you have more thoughts and things come to mind that you that you want to share with me and I'll try to incorporate them in whatever we bring back,” Corbin said.

Currently Atlantic Beach has an inner-local agreement with Neptune Beach to charge for public parking at the Beaches Town Center, which straddles the line of both beachfront cities. Neptune Beach administers that program.

Jacksonville Beach has a separate paid public parking program.

Atlantic Beach 6/14 Commission Meeting Video

Additional Information

Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.

Bill joined WJCT News in September of 2017 from The Florida Times-Union, where he served in a variety of multimedia journalism positions.