by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The City Council will hear legislation tonight that could affect future night spots in Jacksonville.
Introduced by Council member Lynette Self, the bill seeks to establish new parking requirements for nightclubs.
According to Self, the City currently requires restaurants and nightclubs to provide a minimum number of on-site parking spaces based on a ratio of one space per table of four.
“The problem with that,” said Self, “is that there aren’t, typically, very many tables at a club. The club owners have no problem meeting that requirement even though there may not be nearly enough on-site parking.”
Self said the City’s current parking policy has gone largely unchecked until Bourbon Street Station, a new club on the Southside, recently opened.
“It’s really a new issue here because [Bourbon Street] is the only club of its size in Jacksonville,” she said.
Prior to its renovation, Bourbon Street was a Scotty’s hardware store.
“It’s very large and many of its patrons are parking in other people’s private property, public right-of-ways and in the nearby neighborhoods,” she said. “That’s the kind of problem that leads to littering and property damage.”
To determine what policy revision could work locally, Self and city attorney Tim Franklin researched parking requirements in other municipalities including Tampa and Phoenix.
Policy for “bona-fide restaurants” — they derive 51 percent of their profits from food sales — won’t change, but Franklin said basing future parking requirements off the square footage of a nightclub’s Gross Floor Area may serve as a “good method.”
Self’s ordinance defines a nightclub as a “bar, tavern, dance club or other like establishment typically characterized by the service of alcoholic beverages and set-aside of floor area for dancing and/or live performance of music,” though clubs located within the downtown overlay area will be allowed to follow restaurant guidelines.
“Downtown parking is a little different,” said Self. “We realize there are garages coming on line and we didn’t want to get in the way of what’s going on there.”
Franklin agreed, saying the policy is “broad enough to be scrutinized and reviewed by the Council” later this month.
“This is the most promising system we’ve been able to come up with,” said Franklin. “For example, basing the parking requirements off of an estimated occupancy load would slow down the process for someone who wanted to open a club or bar.
“The reason for that is because you don’t apply for permits that require that kind of information until the end of the permitting process. Beyond that, the ratios we’ve determined are actually based on occupancy load estimations. It’s a simple formula that can give future nightclub owners an idea of what they need to provide.”
Franklin added that, if the bill is approved by the Council, existing clubs will not be asked to amend their parking accommodations in any way.
“There was some discussion about making this bill retroactive, but we ultimately determined that it would be legally difficult to do that,” he said. “We didn’t want clubs who obtained their permits a year ago to have to come back and reapply again.”
Self concurred.
“At this point, we’re more interested in setting a new precedent,” said Self. “We need to be think about nightclubs opening here in the future,” she said.
Following its introduction tonight, the bill will be referred to the Council’s Land Use and Zoning Committee.