by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The proposed 210-foot floating dock that would make the Riverside Arts Market accessible by boat is one step closer to final approval.
On Thursday, the Jacksonville Waterways Commission voted 7-0 in favor of the City-built, City-owned dock that would be constructed next to the Northbank Riverwalk property owned by Fidelity National Financial.
“We are very excited about this project,” said Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Executive Director Ron Barton.
According to the legislation, which was sponsored by 11 City Council member, the L-shaped concrete dock will cost just under $400,000 and have a 60-foot aluminum gangway that connects the dock to the Riverwalk.
While the City will build and pay for the dock, Barton explained the money isn’t coming out of the general fund. Instead, funds from the Downtown Tax Increment District will be used.
“This is a revenue stream paid into by Downtown property owners to be invested back into Downtown,” he said. “It’s Downtown-centric, Downtown-paid and the funds go back to Downtown.”
The Riverside Arts Market started its second year this past weekend. It’s set up under the Fuller Warren Bridge and, by all accounts, enjoyed a successful first year.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea you are proposing,” said Waterways member Ed Grey, who also suggested signage alerting boaters the dock is for temporary use. “You don’t want one boater to ruin it for everyone. You don’t want them tied up for a week.”
Barton said the floating dock would help fulfill one of the JEDC’s 19 points in its master plan for Downtown. Creating more access to the St. Johns River, both for boaters and those who don’t own or use a boat, is the last of the points in the official plan, but also one of the most important since it has the potential to benefit everyone.
“It’s our desire to create a better linkage to the St. Johns River and make it an economic driver,” said Barton. “It’s imperative over time to link all the citizens to the river.”
Waterways and Council member John Crescimbeni asked about the impact Barton expects the dock to have on the arts market, which runs through December. Barton said to predict the impact would be conjecture.
“As a boater, I think it’s exciting,” he said. “I can’t believe anything other than it would be wildly successful.”
Barton said the permits for the dock were submitted this week and he expects the process to take about three months. Once permitted, he said the project would move quickly and the dock could be functional in June or July.
In other news from the meeting:
• The City has awarded its Manatee Protection Plan rewrite to Jacksonville University. Quinton White, executive director of the Marine Science Research Institute, and Gerard Pinto, associate research scientist, will head the project that also includes all of the area’s major waterways-related agencies.
Lisa Rinaman of the mayor’s office said two other entities responded to the rewrite proposal. She also said the new plan could be fully approved by August.
• The weekend of April 24 will be the first joint deployment of area waterways agencies for the purpose of educating boaters on manatee zones, rules and regulations.
• Kayle Moore, an engineer with Gainesville-based Applied Technology & Management, presented the findings of a study the company performed on area waterways and their usage. The study looked at several areas, including the number of registered vessels, available public and private ramps and docks, a survey of area marinas and boater tendencies.
“Fishing and cruising are the most popular activities,” said Moore, adding the most popular destinations for fishing and boating are offshore, Sisters Creek Marina, the Little Jetties and Downtown.
“The next step for the City would be to perform a more in-depth analysis (of the data in the survey),” he said.
• Longtime Waterways member Steve Nichols resigned recently due to health reasons.
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