by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City is changing its open door policy for the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
As much as the teams involved, the recreational vehicle has become the symbol of the annual Florida/Georgia game. Each year the game is played surrounded by seemingly endless rows of the homes on wheels. The vehicle village has even acquired its own nickname: RV City.
For years, settling in RV City was a first-come, first-serve proposition. But starting in 2006, a lottery will determine who snags the coveted 150 City-owned spaces surrounding Alltel Stadium.
The City made the switch in anticipation of increased demand for the City’s spaces. The state is getting serious about enforcing parking lot regulations, and City planners think some of the private lots won’t be able to comply.
State officials have told the City to expect enforcement of regulations requiring showers and bathrooms to be provided at lots renting out spaces to five or more RVs. That could put some of the private lots out of the RV business, increasing demand for the City’s spaces, said Mike Sullivan, the director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s sports and entertainment [division].
“The state has mandated that we make certain adjustments as far as not operating like a campground as we’re required to do,” said Sullivan. “We don’t know whether the private sites will be hosting as many motor homes if they have to supply bathrooms and showers.”
The added cost in the City lots will be paid for out of the $50 daily parking fee. That fee won’t go up this year. But Sullivan said the fee could go up in later years if costs to the City significantly increase.
The lottery system is designed to make sure the City’s parking is distributed fairly. Sullivan described the lottery system, which will take effect next year, as similar to the one used to distribute tickets for the NCAA basketball tournament coming to Jacksonville next year.
“Basically everyone sends in their request by a certain date, and we’ll start picking names out of a Florida bucket and a Georgia bucket until all the spaces are filled,” he said.
Final approval for the switch to a lottery is still pending a meeting among the City, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the JEDC and SMG, the sports complex manager. But Sullivan said he was “99 percent” certain of the change.
The switch isn’t only a matter of fairness, it’s also designed to keep away the early arrivals who have historically loitered around the sports complex hoping to be early in line for the City lots.
RVs arrive as early as Saturday for the Monday opening of the lots.
“We can’t have people sitting on the lots overnight,” said Sullivan. “If we’re doing that, we’re breaking the law.”
Starting this year, the City will round up the early arrivals in one lot, which will open at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The vehicles will be moved into lot E, known as the camp ground, starting early Monday morning.
The JEDC has already sent out letters to past week long parkers, notifying them of the changes. Outreach is an important part of the transition since many of the fans regard their stay in the camp ground as a tradition.
“That’s why we’re doing this, to preserve the tradition of what the RV village adds to the game,” said Sullivan. “But we want to follow the law.”