by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Three weeks before his doors open to the public, Amsterdam Sky Cafe owner Mark Jackson has just about everything in place.
Standing in front of his cafe’s entrance, sitting in the shadow of the City’s new $130 million arena, Jackson outlined his plans for an Oct. 3 opening party. Behind him workers applied the final touches. One man meticulously sanded the entrance doorframe while another installed sound system wiring on one of the restaurant’s patios. As his workers progressed on the little things, Jackson said there is one major detail still to be addressed: Where are his customers going to park?
Sitting between the City’s new Veterans Memorial Arena and the $34 million Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, The Amsterdam is surrounded by parking. The City and Spectator Management Group oversee about 2,300 spaces in the area, but Jackson hasn’t been able to negotiate access to any of them. In fact, he said he can’t figure out who to negotiate with.
“I think what we’re looking for is some accountability,” said Jody Brooks, Jackson’s attorney. “We just want to know, Who’s responsible for parking in the area? Who are we supposed to talk to?”
Jackson said he asked Public Parking representatives about using empty spaces on non-game days. Two days later he found a pair of no parking signs, creating a tow-away zone along the stretch of the A. Philip Randolph Boulevard fronting his restaurant.
Pointing across the street, Jackson questioned why the Adams Street no parking signs in front of the baseball park allowed parking for team employees and ticket buyers. Because his land is part of the City’s Planned Unit Development, which includes the arena, ballpark and Alltel Stadium, Jackson said he should get the same consideration as those City-owned facilities.
“We’re all part of the PUD,” said Jackson. “My [land] parcel number is listed on there with the arena and the stadium. You can’t separate us and say, “We’re going to provide for our facilities and not you.
“There’s a half-empty trolley lot two blocks down, there’s acres of empty spaces at the [Alltel] Stadium when there’s no
game. We just want to work something out so we can use some of them.”
However Jacksonville Economic Development executive director Kirk Wendland said that solution wasn’t as simple as it sounded. He said the sports complex parking served different venues with different schedules.
“Just because he’s part of the PUD doesn’t mean he has free access,” said Wendland.
Jackson and his attorney said they are asking for the parking provisions laid out in the PUD agreement. According to the PUD development standards, which set parameters for public parking within the Sports and Entertainment District, “required parking for each development parcel will be achieved through district-wide parking and construction of central parking garages.” The PUD plans for 1,600 covered spaces, but construction on the garages has not started.
According to a Downtown Vision, Inc. parking study, the City’s parking policy suffers from a lack of cohesive management. Downtown spaces are alternatively managed by Public Parking, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the JEA. The study found management to be more complicated in the sports complex where spaces are managed by SMG under a separate City contract. Management of the spaces at times changes hands under various development and contractual agreements among the City and private companies such as the Jaguars and Rouse.
The scattered management structure still leaves Jackson unsure who to talk to. But mayor’s office spokesperson Heather Murphy said the City is just as confused as to his needs.
“It’s difficult to say who should handle the situation because it sounds like he wants the City to provide him with free parking and we don’t have a history of doing that,” said Murphy, adding any downtown developer should account for parking when planning their project.
With or without access to City parking he said the cafe will bring people to the sports complex. He said his restaurant will make the area a “seven days a week” destination.
Referring to his battles with Mayor John Delaney’s administration, which he said tried to derail his project, Jackson looks forward to cooperating with Peyton to bring nightlife to downtown.
“It’s time for the battles to quit and for the City to embrace us,” said Jackson. We’re doing everything the City wants; I’ve invested $2 million of my own money, I’m not using City incentives.
“We are making this a
destination place. The bottom line is every time somebody comes to the Amsterdam, they’re going to be looking at the new arena, the ballpark, the stadium, and they’re going to be getting more involved in the downtown
community.”