A proposal to make the Northbank and Southbank Riverwalks wetter – in a figurative sense – advanced in the City Council review process as an ordinance allowing legal consumption of alcoholic beverages along the walkway had its second reading in the Neighborhoods Committee on Jan. 2.
No action was taken, and now the ordinance moves toward a public hearing. Originally scheduled for Jan. 9., the hearing was rescheduled because of weather.
Ordinance 2023-863 would create the Downtown Riverwalk Specialty Center on both stretches of the Riverwalk, where drinking would be allowed from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on a restricted basis.
Beverages must be purchased from a vendor within the specialty center and must be kept in a specially designed container, with no more than two 16-ounce drinks allowed per person.
Drinking would remain illegal in public parks along the river except during permitted special events.
Jeff Schembera, a resident of The Peninsula of Jacksonville condominiums on the Southbank, said he and others in the high-rise and neighboring properties are concerned that the ordinance could exacerbate problems stemming from public drinking around the Florida-Georgia and Gator Bowl college football games.
Schembera said fans often park near the Southbank for those events, ride the river taxi to the games and then return for postgame drinking along the Riverwalk.
“The biggest problem we run into are people trying to get into the building to use the restroom. And if they can’t get in, they use the landscaping,” he said. “If you add 32 more ounces to it, it’s going to get kind of tough.”
Schembera is urging the Council to exempt the games from the legislation and maintain a prohibition on public consumption on those days.
He said neighbors hadn’t experienced problems related to Jacksonville Jaguars games and other events, including Downtown Vision Inc.’s “Sip and Stroll” events where alcohol is allowed.
The ordinance would take advantage of a state law allowing for creation of specialty centers adjacent to navigable waterways. The Jacksonville specialty center would run the length of the Northbank and Southbank Riverwalk except for an area around Friendship Fountain.
This story has been updated to correct the alcohol cup size.