Five days short of 13 months since a City Council committee began studying Hemming Plaza and possible methods to improve the park’s environment, the committee adjourned its latest meeting Tuesday without much progress toward a solution.
“We talk and talk and talk and the situation is getting worse,” said Council member and committee member Don Redman.
“The businesses have a problem with what goes on in the park. With the revitalization of Downtown a goal of the mayor and the City Council, we need to do something,” he said.
Redman’s district includes Downtown.
In the absence of committee chair Denise Lee, Council member Bill Gulliford called the meeting to order. He told the group of more than a dozen members of the public who attended that he expected no action would take place at the meeting.
Lee scheduled the meeting to discuss drafting legislation that would restrict card games in the plaza and authorize the removal of benches, tables and chairs. The ordinance also would allow the removal of diseased trees in the plaza and appropriation of funds to repair planters and flower beds.
“There will be no decisions short of possibly drafting legislation,” Gulliford said.
The committee met for the first time Sept. 28, 2011, and has involved Downtown property owners, business owners, residents, City officials and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to identify a solution to people spending all day in Hemming Plaza and the behavior issues of a few of the park users. Some of the behavior, including panhandling, disturbing the peace and vulgar language, violates City ordinances.
JSO Downtown and Springfield Zone Commander Michelle Cook said Downtown was her beat when she was a rookie officer. Compared to other areas of the county, Downtown is safer in terms of violent crime, but nuisance crime — such as panhandling — is an issue and laws against nuisance crime are difficult to enforce, she said.
“Compared to 20 years ago, people don’t feel safe Downtown. I think the Councilman (Redman) hit it on the head. Something has to be done,” Cook said.
The possibility of removing tables, chairs and benches from the plaza to make it less appealing to people who wish to spend long periods of time in the park was addressed by Downtown Vision Inc. at a previous meeting of the committee.
When the Hemming Plaza committee met April 4, DVI presented the results of a survey it conducted among Downtown property and business owners, City employees and JEA employees to determine opinions about the plaza and its usage.
DVI Marketing Director Katherine Hardwick reported that of the 1,654 people who responded to the survey, 70 percent said they were not interested in removing tables and chairs from the plaza and 56 percent were not interested in adding movable furniture.
Hardwick said 76 percent of the comments submitted in addition to answers to questions on the survey related to “removing the existing people” and disruptive behavior from Hemming Plaza.
DVI, the nonprofit Downtown advocacy organization funded by property owners and the City, distributed an email Monday afternoon with a link to DVI’s blog that outlines its position on “best practices and possible solutions for revitalizing and re-energizing” Hemming Plaza.
According to the blog entry on DVI’s website, the organization’s goals are to “create an atmosphere that makes the urban park attractive to the entire community.”
Best practices in urban parks are listed as making the space clean, safe and attractive; creating events and activities to bring visitors to the park; and redesigning the space based on how the community wants to use it.
DVI’s suggestions on the clean, safe and attractive issue are to improve maintenance of the park; strictly enforce park rules and City ordinances; provide visible, active police or security presence; maintain landscaping and clear sightlines; and improve lighting.
The blog entry advocates the use of “movable seating” and the “spreading out of limited stationary seating to reduce crowding.”
After hearing comments from the public against removing furniture from the plaza, Gulliford said the purpose of the meeting Tuesday was not to debate whether to remove the tables and seats and he will advise Council member Lee to schedule another meeting to discuss possible legislation.
If and when legislation to remove tables and seats from Hemming Plaza is introduced, there will be a public hearing on the proposal, Gulliford said.
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