by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
The continuing development along the St. Johns River downtown has at least one Southbank property owner concerned about the shrinking amount of public access to the Riverwalk.
Fueled by the impending development of The Strand, Gate Riverplace Company, owners of the Riverplace Tower, argue that the majority of Riverwalk users can only access the City-owned pedestrian path via private property. This leaves private property owners, like GRC, vulnerable to lawsuits.
“I think the concern we have is as development continues, there is fewer and smaller access to the Riverwalk,” said Steve Diebenow, attorney for GRC. “It’s clear that private property owners are responsible if someone gets hurt while trying to access the Riverwalk.”
The genesis of GRC’s concern arises from a personal injury lawsuit several years ago based on an accident that occurred on their property. GRC lost the case and had to pay about $150,000 in damages. GRC argued the individual was trying to access the Riverwalk at the time of the accident and thus filed a lawsuit against the City a year and a half ago to recover the damages. While both sides stress they would like to come to an amicable agreement, the City says it is not responsible.
“Where the accident took place was not during ingress or egress to the Riverwalk,” said City attorney Anthony Zebouni.
In a letter to the City dated Feb. 5, Diebenow explained that access to the Riverwalk along publicly-owned corridors is limited saying, ‘. . . the Riverwalk is public property available for all members of the public to use and enjoy. However, members of the public are virtually forced to cross private property to access the Riverwalk on the south bank of the river because there is no cohesive plan for public access or public parking for Riverwalk patrons. As a result, private property owners along the river, including GRC, are subject to liability when members of the public cross their property to access the Riverwalk.’
GRC would like the City to share liability with private property owners along the Riverwalk. But sorting out who pays for what could get sticky.
“The question is this,” said Zebouni. “Where should the City’s liability be? During ingress, during egress or only on the Riverwalk? I would assume nobody wants to have risk. It’s a very difficult thing to quantify.”
Diebenow agreed that exact terms of liability sharing could be difficult to negotiate.
“The terms are always to be determined,” he said. “The devil is always in the details.”
According to the City’s risk management office, only GRC has voiced Riverwalk liability concerns.