by David Ball
Staff Writer
“It’s creeping up the coast towards us,” said Jacksonville Waterways Commission member Susan Grandin, as two dozen fishermen, shrimpers, marina operators and others watched the projector screen in a packed City Hall committee room Monday.
Playing was a recent newscast from Broward County showing congested boat ramps, shorelines filled with million-dollar condos that replaced acres of working waterfront, and faces of many discouraged recreational and commercial boaters.
“This is what could one day happen in Jacksonville,” continued Grandin. She and Commission members Ed Grey and Stephen Busey hosted an afternoon workshop to elicit insight from members of the public, parks and the City involved with the working waterfront.
Topics ranged from property tax reductions to community redevelopment areas, but a core group from Mayport turned much of the discussion to how a proposal to build a new cruise ship terminal in Mayport could impact one of the oldest fishing villages in the country.
“One day we have a nice view of the shrimp boats and people fishing off the dock,” said Mayport landscape architect Gary Crumley, a member of the Mayport Waterfronts Partnership, “the next day you see this 15-story-high building with Norwegian Cruise Lines on it. That scares the hell out of the people of Mayport.”
Crumley and others worried the space needed for the terminal would all but take over the nearly 60-acre Mayport Village, while the rest of the Village would succumb to buyouts from developers, such as Vestcor Co., looking to redevelop the area.
“They are buying the property as we speak,” said Crumley. “I’ve been offered a lot of money and I’ve turned them down.”
Vestcor announced in 2006 plans to build a four-story residential and commercial project along the St. Johns River in Mayport, and the company has reportedly invested almost $10 million for close to six acres of land. In August, Vestcor Chairman John Rood reportedly came to the Port Authority with the idea to build a new cruise terminal on some of his land.
At the meeting, Port Senior Director of Planning and Properties David Kaufman said although the Port is in very early stages, there is a possibility of as many as four different cruise ships using the new terminal at alternating times and visiting Mayport as a port of call, not just a port of departure.
“We had significantly more port of call business (recently),” said Kaufman. “We got a number of ships that come in to Dames Point (Cruise Terminal) at night. People get off the ships and say, ‘Where am I?’ Because there is nothing there.”
Many from Mayport recognized the economic benefit of a cruise terminal and future development, although they discussed creating a preservation district, like in Riverside and Avondale, to protect the existing community character.
“If we can’t make (existing uses) financially viable, then we have to look at alternative uses for that land,” said Crumley. “Maybe we’ve got to follow through with working with developers like Vestcor that have the money to get that development going.”
Property Appraiser Jim Overton said some relief might be on the horizon to help marine businesses remain in operation, as the State Legislature is expected this week to vote on a major reduction in working waterfront property taxes.
“It would reclassify property, assessing at something much less than market-rate,” said Overton, who added the definition of “working waterfront” also included hotels and motels along bodies of water.
The group discussed a tax deferral bill coming before City Council that would allow a marine business to defer paying property taxes until the property was sold. It gained a lukewarm reception from the crowd that cited extra burden in some instances where businesses were sold down the family line.
The idea that gained the most favor was a proposal for City officials, Mayport residents and business owners to create a community master plan to guide future development. Some planned to research communities like Key West that have worked to keep the working waterfront viable with development and tourism.