by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Waterways Commission voiced its support Wednesday for the Jacksonville Port Authority’s plan to build a new cruise ship terminal on private land at the southern tip of the Timucuan Preserve.
Commissioners said the money and jobs created by the terminal trumped what they called a limited ecological impact. Several commissioners sparred with Timucuan Superintendent Barbara Goodman of the National Park Service, who voiced the meeting’s only opposition to the proposed site.
The current terminal lies west of the Dames Point Bridge. The 175-foot high bridge is already a tight fit for newer ships — Carnival’s new vessel, Miracle, cleared under the bridge by just seven feet. Jaxport officials say they’ve been told by cruise lines that the bridge will be impassable for the next generation of cruise ships. Jaxport executive director Rick Ferrin said the proposed site adjacent to the Sisters Creek boat launch, was the only possible alternative.
“We need to move east of the Dames Point Bridge if we want to be in this business,” said Ferrin.
Goodman said Jaxport was advancing too quickly — it has already offered $5.3 million for the land — without adequate environmental study or a commitment from cruise lines to use the new terminal. Jaxport representatives responded that they will build a low-impact facility and said conversations with major cruise lines indicated that the new facility would become a fixture on their itineraries.
“They (cruise line officials) told us, ‘Get on with this, we want to enter into a long-term commitment,’ as long as they see us moving forward (on a new terminal),” said Dave Kaufman, the port authority’s director of planning.
Kaufman noted that Jaxport would invest about $30 million to buy and develop the 100-acre parcel of land.
Goodman found little support for her position, which was essentially to keep the status quo. Referring to Ferrin’s earlier statement that Jacksonville’s cruise industry was “extremely successful,” using the current terminal, Goodman questioned whether the extra business would be worth disrupting the preserve, home to wetlands, marshes, waterways and native wildlife and vegetation.
“It’s just moving very quickly without thorough analysis and without input from the community, City Council or even the Waterways Commission,” said Goodman. “They made the decision, and they’re just now letting us know.”
Commissioner Carter Bryan responded that the terminal would only impact a small portion of the 46,000-acre park. He said the jobs and revenue generated — Jaxport estimates cruise ships brought about 700 jobs and $36 million in spending to Jacksonville last year — outweighed the environmental impact.
“We’re talking about 100 acres out of 46,000, and you can’t concede that this is in the best interest of the City?” Bryan asked Goldman. “We should precede. We should get over the fact that that’s the only place we can build and move on.”
Bryan said the larger ships were cleaner than their smaller, older counterparts that Jacksonville would attract with the current port.
“The environmental output of the new ships is virtually zero. Their trash is pulverized into tiny specks and off-loaded,” he said. “It’s a good, clean business.”
Several commissioners worried about the National Park Service’s “federal intrusion” into local property questions. Goodman said she was only asking that the City’s own zoning overlay be enforced. The land is currently zoned for residential, allowing for one house per acre. Jaxport will have to change the zoning to allow a cruise terminal to operate. City Council member Sharon Copeland, chair of the Land Use and Zoning Committee, said the zoning hearings would provide ample opportunity for opponents to make their case.