by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The pace of development at Cecil Commerce Center may quicken now that two government entities have come to an agreement on how that development will progress.
Both the City of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Airport Authority (JAA) own thousands of acres of land at the former Cecil Field Naval Air Base. They have been negotiating ownership of the the 4,800 concurrency vehicle trips attached to the property rights given to both the City and the JAA by the Navy and how the property can be developed. Property is assessed a certain amount of vehicle trips that the infrastructure can support. Infrastructure improvements are required after a property is developed if that development creates more daily trips.
City Council member and Seaport-Airport Special Committee member Stephen Joost was assigned to meet with the two groups to help develop a solution that appealed to both parties and he gave a report at the Monday meeting.
“At first, JEDC (Jacksonville Economic Development Commission) believed it controlled all concurrency trips, but the JAA felt they had some of those trips and they wanted the availability to develop the land unrestricted,” said Joost. “The JEDC thought development should be restricted to aviation-based development. I think we’ve reached an agreement that will allow aviation primarily, but also allow some retail for JAA.”
The JEDC manages the City’s parcels designated for economic development, so the commission has been negotiating with the JAA on development at Cecil Commerce Center.
Special Committee Chair Daniel Davis was pleased that an agreement was reached between the two.
“I think we stopped a train wreck,” said Davis. “I can’t stress enough how important it is that we don’t have two government entities playing against each other.”
The committee also saw presentations from the Jacksonville Port Authority regarding the proposed development of a cruise ship terminal in Mayport.
The first presentation explained why the Port Authority was requesting an amendment to the City’s 2010 Comprehensive Plan.
Bill 2008-970 proposes to incorporate the “Jaxport Master Plan” into the City’s Comprehensive Plan to reflect an updated, more specific master plan that details the Port Authority’s developing of new terminals, shipping lines and new business, which includes cruise lines.
The second presentation was related to bill 2008-892, which requests a land use change for about seven acres of property it owns in Mayport on Ocean Street southwest of Broad Street. The Port Authority has requested a change from Community General Commercial to Water Dependent-Water Related to accommodate its request to develop a cruise ship terminal on the property.
The proposed terminal will be 10 acres in size and includes a two-story, 90,000 square-foot building.
“The terminal has not been designed. We have renderings of what it could look like,” said David Kaufman, senior director of planning and properties for the Port Authority. “The idea we have fits quite well into the space we have, though.”
District 11 Council member Ray Holt, the district where the proposed cruise terminal would be located, has received comments from the owners of shrimp boats in the area, but has found the Port Authority to be receptive to those concerns.
”There are a lot of issues to resolve before we can move ahead with this,” said Holt. “Where are the shrimpers going to park their boats? We need a long-term solution to take care of that.”
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