meeting of the Jacksonville Beach City Council. We will begin with our invocation followed by the salute to the flag delivered by Councilman Wagner. Please rise. We stand in your awe as you allow us to come together and and worship in your name on
the eve of you bringing one of your greatest warriors to your side. Pope Francis was known for one who bestowed humility and a passion for the poor and those who needed others and spread that word across all
great lands. We ask that you bestow a small small bit of that wisdom and guidance on this room and all that are in it and all that sit on the dis and all those public servants who devote their lives and their careers to helping
take care of others. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. This meeting is called to order. Madam clerk, roll call. Council member Golding, here. Council member Horn here. Council member Jansen, here. Council member Sutton here. Council member Wagner here. Council member Wowers.
Mayor Hoffman here. Moving on to approval of minutes. Item A. I move we approve the minutes from the regular city council meeting held on April 7th, 2025. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. I. Any
opposed? Motion carries. Item B. I move we approve the minutes from the city council briefing held on April 14th, 2025. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Approval of the agenda. I move
we approve the agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Announcements. Miss Golding. Thank you, mayor. Um, there's so much
going on right now. It's crazy. Um, I just wanted to mention to my fellow council members, I hope you got the invitation from Alexi Gonzalez to the Neptune Beach Elementary SACE lunchon on Friday the 25th at 11:00 a.m., excuse
me, at Neptune Beach Elementary. Um, I went uh the mayor and I went to that last year. It's a really good opportunity to um interface with the principal and the president of the SACE
and um it's just it it's a really good it's it's good to attend and so I would just encourage you if you ha if you're available to uh plan to attend that. And then also wanted to uh let everyone know that um Paw Park Dog Park
is going to be celebrating its 20th anniversary, which is amazing. Um can't believe it's been 20 years. That says a lot about my age because I was there for the grand opening. Um but that's going to be May 3rd from 9:00 am to noon at
the dog park and it should be a lot of fun. So, I encourage anybody to plan to come out for that. Um, also want to mention that uh, Beaches Watch is having a meeting on May 7th at 7 PM at the Beaches Branch Library and the topic of
that meeting is the interlocal agreements with Jacksonville. And um, the speakers are going to be Bill Golifford and John Delaney and the meeting is going to be focused on the history of the interlocal agreements. Um, and it should be a really really
interesting meeting because those two guys were involved in the uh the what what happened with the interlocal agreements and there's a lot of stuff that I think a lot of us don't know that would be good to hear from both of them because John Delaney was on the
Jacksonville side and Bill Gullifford was on the beaches side and there there will also be some discussion about Ocean County and that movement as well. So, it should be very interesting. And again, that'll be Wednesday, May 7th at 7 p.m. at the Beaches Branch Library. And just
want to say I'm looking forward to the beach's opening parade in the sand castle contest this weekend. Hope everybody comes out for the fun. Um, and then last but not least, lots of craziness still going on in Tallahassee. Um, and all of us up here are following
the the bills that would impact Jacksonville Beach. Um there are a couple for sure that still seem to be in play. One that has to do with CRAAS that we're following and the other one with sovereign immunity. Um but we are getting close to the end of the session.
So hopefully we can survive this session without too much uh impact to our community. Thank you, Miss Golding. Mr. Jansen. Yeah. So, I just wanted to piggy back on some of the the fact uh points that council member Golding has said. Number
one, uh as far as that Neptune Beach Sack, that committee meeting, they're they're really good to attend. She's right. I have attend attended the one at Seabbze and Sam Pablo as well. Um get involved. It's nice to get involved in those and to hear what's going on at the local school level. So, those are those
are very beneficial. Um so, I would encourage to come out to all of those. Uh secondly, when it comes to the the bills that are going through the state right now, I did communicate with Senator Yarboro this afternoon and the CRA bill looks like as it was uh as of
roughly around 1:00 this afternoon that it was going to be a grandfather in clause for those who already have existing CRA. So that would be us. So we kind of be looking good in that regard. However, the amendment did have a caveat to it that basically suggested that we as a council would not be able to select
the chair or vice chair of the CRA. That would be done by the CRA themselves. Uh that's not a dealbreaker and it's a lot better than when it started. When it started was awful. Uh any new CRAAS after October 1st, 2025 would have to be
governed by the council. So, they wouldn't have a CRA committee. The council would be the ones running the CRAAS. I did ask him about sovereign immunity. He said that on the House side that they were trying to add the sovereign immunity bill to another bill.
Um but that was yet to be seen and there was no movement on the Senate side and he hadn't heard any updates on those numbers. Sovereign immunity is for those that may not be familiar with it. Basically, it's the limits on how much he can sue a government entity if something were to happen in triple ball
or something like that. And originally they were asking for like 1.1 million and 3.3 up from 200,000 and 300,000. So, um I think the number that everybody was looking for was a lot less. And so as long as they're colliding on both sides of the house,
that's good for us. So we'll see what happens with it. Thank you, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Jansen. Um uh any other announcements from council? No mention of VLSC opening day. No.
Okay. If you if you would like um it's on the Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. The volunteer life saving the volunteer life saving corps will be having their opening of the beaches and opening of the um beaches
and opening of the lifeguard season for the volunteer lifeguards uh happening on Sunday and I do believe it is 9:00 a.m. uh in front of the lifeguard station. I am very frustrated. I will not be there, but I will be in Nicaragua. So, uh, surfing you guys. Sorry about that, but
you know, somebody has to do it. Um, but Volunteer Life Saving Corps has been serving the beach community for the last 113 years, and they continue to do so. Um, and greatly appreciate them. If you want to come down and see the new lifeguards that they have, as well as some of the old lifeguards that are still down there, such as, um, myself at
times. Um, and, uh, it's always a wonderful thing. And again, they will also, I do believe, have their vehicle in the um parade as well. So, always happy to see the lifeguards, JBO and the VLSC out in the parade. Um, and I love to see the community support. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Horn and Miss Golding. I thought for sure you were going to give this update, but Beaches Go Green, so maybe you saved it for me. Thank you. Beaches go green had a big community cleanup for Earth Day this past weekend. And um one of the statistics that leapt
off the page to me is that in Jacksonville Beach alone, they collected 11,000 cigarette butts. So I think that's an app propose statistic for this evening. But 640 pounds of trash um and 274 volunteer hours. So that's just in
Jacksonville Beach. That was a huge event and we thank everybody involved in that. Um I would also like to thank uh Councilman Wagner and his lovely wife Diane. They came out to the Easter egg hunt and let me throw them into the position of bunny wrangler and they did
a great job with our Easter bunny with resume. Exactly. Put that on your LinkedIn immediately. Um, but they did a great job helping uh kids get pictures with the Easter Bunny and u making it a even more fun event. So, that's always a great time. Thanks to our parks and
recck staff for putting that together. Um, mayor's Easter trivia went over as well as it usually does. Um, and then just shameless plug, this weekend is full of events with the city, but we also have the Fletcher all class block party over at the beaches museum. That's always a great event and fundraiser for
that institution. Any other announcements from council? Mr. Horn, I was just going to nominate uh Councilman Wagner for uh the Easter Bunny costume next year. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oh, see it counts. We will definitely have to find a larger Easter
Bunny outfit. We did get it. We have invested in a new Easter bunny costume. So, it's uh it's much um friendlier to the wearer. Not not that somebody's It is actually a bunny, right? Any kids in the audience? Yeah, that's part of it.
Okay. It's a real thing. Okay. Moving on to courtesy of the Florida visitors. We'll start with Miss Janelle Wilson. We have a new microphone at the podium now. I don't know if you've been up here. Just hit the hit the button. Hit the red button and it'll turn green
for you. Give us your name and address. Okay, great. Thank you. I'm Jamal Wilson, 2014 South Oceanfront, Jacksonville Beach. And as you are going to be discussing parking situation in South Jacksonville Beach, I wanted to bring to your attention another situation that we have there that I've
talked to a lot of you about, but it's um the businesses that are there that do not allow their their employees to park in their parking lot. They say you have to park elsewhere. So what has happened, they've started parking all up and down the streets in the residential areas and
not only on the rideway but right in the lane of traffic. So they're parking in the street all day long from 8 to 5. So and then u the uh it makes it hard for people to get in and out of their properties. It makes it hard for uh
moving trucks or the the garbage trucks to get through the UPS delivery people to get through and it blocks the traffic. So, you have to wait for one car to pass before you can get through. So, this is a problem that the neighbors are all upset about. This is along 32nd
Avenue and 33rd Avenue South at the dermatology office. And uh and you know it's when I went through my approval for my office which was a number of years ago I had to have all these parking spaces for my office for the square
footage I had. I don't understand how they got permission to have this big office with no parking for the employees. So, and there's an ordinance or the uh land ordinance that addresses this that they have I think one of the other people are going to bring this up how they have to have certain number of
parking spaces or or if they can't park on this property, they have to designate or find other parking places for them. So, they haven't done this. Uh the uh as far as the proposed ordinance of not allowing the semi-trailers to park on Third Street, I
am in favor of that. However, a lot of these people, the employees that are working there, if they can't park in the property itself in their parking lot, they're parking on the street in third on third street all day long. And if that this ordinance passes that they can
only park there four hours, then where are they going to park? There going to be even more cars that go back into the residential areas at 33rd and 32nd Avenue South. So there's something that needs to be done about that because this is a residential area.
Uh the recently there was also someone brought up the fact that another business down that way the Avette er at uh Jacksonville Drive and Third Street. They also have now banned their employees from parking in their parking lot. So where are they parking? They're
parking on Courtney South all up and down behind the uh funeral home. So that blocks traffic going through that area also. So these are some of the things that need to be addressed and we appreciate your looking into this and and if you have any questions feel free
to call. Thank you. Thank you Miss Wilson. It looks like Michael Delo. Um, as Mrs. Wilson was talking, if you could give us your name and address before you start. Um, this was Mrs. Wilson was talking about. I live on that
street also. And we've been having not a problem until dermatology building lost their parking, overflow parking, which was over between 33rd and 34th. It's a
surgery center. I don't know what how they lost or what the case one employee told me they got kicked out. One said that they went up on the fees and they didn't want to pay it. Okay. So, they shoved it out, told
their employees and they went to the city um police chief and he said, "Okay, you can you can park down the street." He said, "That's perfectly acceptable." So what we have now is 7:30 to 5:00 they
leave their cars down the street. Now they're parked in one lane. So the street effectively doesn't become but a one lane road because you're blocking off one side. It becomes a problem for the UPS,
the FedEx, and anybody living on that street. it backs up. Um, so if you take the parking off of Third Street, you've created a whole another
problem. You you're going to push them all of them into the the beach until 33rd, 32nd, and otherwise on down the streets. Um, I
We I've given you a paper on the back of the paper has some of this CPO designations. It's commercial professional use and it originally was designed like that by the South
Redevelopment Group about 20 25 years ago. They didn't this was to prevent this CPO designation. It was to keep Applebee's, Burger King, you know,
McDonald's where you really had a lot of people coming in. Well, and that was fine up until recently because Dr. Moon's going to retire, but she doesn't own the building. She leases the bill. All she can sell is her
practice. So, she brought in four more doctors. So in order to pay for the doctors and to make it work, they have to see each doctor needs to see a patient every 15
minutes. That means a car coming in, a car going out every 15 minutes. So in the course of a day, you've had 128 cars coming in. That's just for the upstairs. That's not St. Vincent's
patriotics below. They've got their own thing going. And so we've got something that wasn't designed. It's it's not designed like that. It wasn't meant to be that way. And they have misconstrued it and nobody said anything till
now. So thank you. Mr. Deo, can you just give us your name and your address, please? Your name and address. Michael Delo, 31532nd Avenue South. Thank you. All right. Thanks, Jeff Harrington.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I didn't realize this parking issue was going to be such a hot topic. I'm here for the same exact reason. We're adjoining on on Fourth Street right north of Jacksonville Drive. Uh there is like all day long people are parking
there and they don't move. So it's not like they park for a couple hours and come and go. And uh I hate to tell you with the type of density we have and the growth here, this is going to be a bigger problem. Any the closer you get to the ocean, it's going to be a bigger
and bigger problem. I would just like to see you guys address it somehow. whether it's resident parking only. Uh I lived in areas where they had that and some densely populated areas of the city or limited time parking. That's not fair
for the people that are the residents there. We have people that work in the commercial buildings. They're occupying these parking spots. I always own an office building. the the municipality that I had my business in before the tenant
could get an occupancy agreement. I had to make sure they had enough parking spots for the number of employees they had. And I'm not sure what how that you know how they can move into a place and not have enough parking for the people. That's something that um you know I don't understand how that works.
But the the I'm just trying to say that it's going to be a bigger problem going forward. more people move here, the more uh you know, the hospitality business grows. It's a hot, you know, Florida's big, Jacksonville Beach is is big, and
it's just going to come become a bigger and bigger problem. But our street specifically, it's a problem because it's supposed to be a one-way street or that one section there, but people cut through off a third street. They cut through to get over to Jacksonville Drive so they get on JTB or go to the
the mall or whatever. And so between that and all the cars parking there, like other people said, you know, it's congested. If if if contractors need a place to park, they don't have the garbage trucks can hardly get through. God forbid a moving van needs to get through. It's uh it's a problem. And I
just would uh like to ask you folks to to address it. Either a resident parking program, a limited time program, uh something like that. As far as the truck the truck parking there I that's you know you can just have no truck
parking. You don't have to have you know necessarily no parking but um those people I've seen people come to drive up. I used to think it was from the Home Depot. They were just parking overnight. That's not what it is. People are using it for a truck parking lot. That's what's going on there. But any
rate I just want to ask you to see if you guys could do something about that. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Harrington, before you go, can you just give us your name and address for the record? Pardon? Your name and address. Oh, for the record. Jeff Harrington, 403 Upper 36th Avenue South.
Thank you. Thank you. Jeff Kener. Hello. How are you guys doing tonight? An address for the Sorry, Jeff Kener, 408 Upper 36th Avenue South, Jacksonville Beach. appreciate you guys letting me speak tonight. Uh this is basically dittoing
what uh the uh the other residents uh stated in regards to the uh uh parking issues. My specific area of concern is Fourth Street South. Um on the west side of Fourth Street South where we have a large number of employees from the
veterinary clinic specifically parking along that region 8 to 5 and also at other longer durations um usually not there for less than eight hours at a time. Um, it's been a really big safety concern, not just an inconvenience, but
a safety concern for us as residents and also as previous uh people stated, FedEx, UPS, Amazon, garbage, waste, the list goes on. Um, my wife was almost hit by a car. I've almost been hit. I've
almost hit a car stopping at the stop sign. There's it's just blinded. You cannot see it. Um, I did speak with a uh parking uh employee who was able to actually put up a sign. Unfortunately, they put a no
parking sign on the north end of Fourth Street South with the arrow pointed north. So, there was literally a 15 foot space between the mailbox and the stop sign where uh people can't park, which is good. We need that, but we really needed that sign to be all the way down
on the south end of the street. Um I've spoke with the veterinary clinic at length numerous times. I've been told by the employees that it's management and that's why um they can't park in their own parking spots. They have over 20 spots um and they told me they're not
allowed to park there and that I should address it with management. I've left several messages, no response from management. Unfortunately, the employees are put in a very bad situation. I utilize that vet. I love them. They don't have anywhere to go. They parked by the church. They said they had dog
feces thrown on their car. Um, unfortunately, it's just a safety concern that needs to be addressed because something bad, unfortunately, will happen. Um, it's it's inevitable. There's just so much traffic going south to north into that it's a it's a one-way
alley and people are still utilizing that to avoid the traffic on Third Street because there's no there's no green there's no light north of uh um Jacksonville Drive for them to get over to take a left. It's just a blind corner and it's hard. So, I
respect I get that. I understand why they're using that back street, but ultimately I would like to just see uh things addressed on that four street south if at all possible. And I appreciate your guys' time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kener. That is the last
general courtesy of the floor card. So, we will move on to consent agenda. I move that we approve the consent agenda. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor signify by saying I. Any opposed?
Oh, Justin, I'm sorry. It said it was attached to an agenda item. Come on up. Justin Rolls 43 12th Avenue South. Uh, I support what you're writing as far as the truck parking on Third Street. I think it's a step in the right direction, but I don't think it was properly thought out before it was
written. I think it should extend all the way through the beaches, not just for around 10 blocks. Um, I've been talking about this for years, and I it's fallen on deaf ears. Uh, it's been excused as a FDOT issue. You've had the cops call me and talk to me about it and
say they'll bark tires and such and that kind of thing. It's just never gotten anywhere. I think if we would have looked at this years ago whenever I first started discussing it before we've grown to this point, it would have probably helped and alleviated headaches that other residents have been talking
about and maybe possibly wouldn't have got to this point. Um, I think if you do do what you're talking about, push this through, it's just going to force the trucks down further into the downtown district, which is obviously not a good look. We're trying to increase our
tourism, bring people here. The last thing you want is people coming down Beach Boulevard with our new landscaping, our signs, what have you, and having a truck stop that they're going to pull into. Um, I think that just overall it's hard to see around
when you're turning on Third Street. Uh, crossing foot traffic, bikes, what have you. It's dangerous. Uh, it's an eyesore obviously, like I just discussed. If you live around Third Street, the generators at night are just quite annoying, especially if someone doesn't maintain
their generator. It's like living next to somebody who has an old AC unit. It rattles, it rolls, it does what it does, and it's just terrible to listen to. Um, I think it's just something that needs to be addressed before it becomes even worse of an issue like other residents
were talking about. Um, it's just just I think like we were talking about, it's something that other beaches have gone through and figured out a way to establish a solution, whether it be resident only
parking, shrinking the size of the allotted parking, what have you. There's things that could be done. It's just how we go about finding a solution. So, that was basically what I wanted to say. Thank you. Thank
ms. Now I think we've turned the volume down on these too much. You guys notice that? Can everybody hear me? Okay. you attached to an agenda item. So, we do courtesy of the floor for people who just want to speak on a general item that's not on the agenda, but if you
want to speak on the smoking on the beach or the um parking on Third Street, that would be a little bit later at that time. Yeah. Thank you for checking. Okay. Try lean in a little bit more because I think it's a little lower on
the mic here now, but at least it's not echoing. Okay. Next up on the agenda, we have a uh presentation of a proclamation. So, I will read through that and then we'll invite um Jessica and guests to come on up to the podium
um for some introductions and we'll take a photo. Do the consent agenda. We did the consent agenda and then I got went back into courtesy of the floor. I remembered. Okay. This is a proclamation for National Donate Life Month. Whereas
Florida's organ, tissue, and eye donor registry is named for Joshua Abbott, the recipient of a lung transplant who passed away in 2006. Abbott's story so moved the Florida legislature that in 2009, Florida's agency for healthcare administration chose Donate Life Florida
to create a statewide donor registry to increase registry, enrollment, and educate flidians about donation. And whereas Donate Life Florida is a nonprofit 501c3 charitable organization. And whereas established in 1997 as Florida Coalition on Donation
Incorporated, Donate Life Florida is dedicated to motivating Floridaidians to designate themselves as organ tissue and eye donors. So lives are saved and enhanced through donation and transplantation. And whereas today more than 5,000 patients listed at Florida transplant centers await life-saving
organ transplants. And whereas many of these individuals may get a second chance at life due to the generosity of those who designate themselves as organ, tissue, and eye donors on Florida's organ and tissue donor registry. And whereas more than 100,000 people are waiting for a life-saving transplant.
Another person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes. Over 20 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time. One person can save up to eight lives through organ donations. And whereas with the Mayo Clinic being the city's transplant hospital, many Jacksonville Beach
residents are transplant recipients, Jacksonville's diverse population brings the importance of awareness and need for the life-saving transplant for many in the area. And whereas the city encourages all citizens to consider organ, eye, and tissue donation and engaged in healthy habits to decrease
the need for transplantation. And now therefore, be it resolved that by virtue of the authority vested in me as the mayor of the city of Jacksonville Beach, I Christine Hoffman hereby support Donate Life Florida and proclaim April 2025 as National Donate Life Month in
the city of Jacksonville Beach, Florida and call upon each citizen to consider organ, eye, and tissue donation and engage in healthy habits to decrease the need for transplantation. And we have Jessica, if you want to come on up to the If you want to come to the podium and introduce
yourself. Yep. You just hit the red button to make it turn green. Hi, I'm Jessica Shidler Grosswork. So grateful that you're recognizing April as Donate Life Month. It makes a huge difference in our community. There's about a 100,000 people currently waiting for a
transplant in the United States. Um I'm a picture person, so think of the Jaguar Stadium. Um, if we sold out a game, our stadium holds about 67,000 people. So, like a stadium and a half worth of sick people that need a transplant. So, by
registering as an organ donor, there's about a 1% chance that you'll actually become one. You have to die in a very specific way. And so, by registering, there's a 99% chance it won't happen to you. But, if you can, you have the potential to save up to a hundred
people's lives. So trying to bring this awareness to the community and the impact that the lives can be saved, especially because we're so close to the Mayo Clinic and the impact they're making nationwide around the world for the amount of transplants they're doing. So so many people are moving to
Jacksonville Beach because of how wonderful it is, but how close it is to Mayo Clinic and those lives that can be saved. So I want to pass it on over to another J Beach resident here to share her story and connection to organ donation. You may want to turn the clock on
because I can talk forever about my son. Um, but my name's Ricky Taylor. My son Caleb Matthews um was 27 years old when he was diagnosed with a very rare form of lung cancer. Caleb was a um he went
to Nice High School, graduated with honors, played D1 soccer for STSON, went to the University of Florida College of Medicine, and was a cardiothoracic surgeon resident at Uppui in Indianapolis. And nothing prepares a parent who thinks their son is number
one off the payroll going to be supporting her when she's in her 60s, 70s, and 80s um for a phone call that you get saying that um the flu that he has is not the flu, it's lung cancer. Um he moved here to stay at the condo at
the beach which I am still residing at um for and had most of his care at UF in Gainesville but um in November of 22 he succumbed to to the the disease and um after a long battle fighting I anyone
who's lost anyone knows what it's like when someone actually passes. It's a whirlwind. It's fog. You don't remember anything. Year later, I got a call from Lion's request that said that my son had donated his eyes to two people. And
nothing helped someone heal. You know, you you had somebody who just had the the world ahead of him. And every institution that he went to has some sort of memorial for him that he last left last such an impression on
people. Um, and you just think that, you know, he's going to go on forever. Why not? you know, and of course, um, when you find out that he's given eyesight, it sort of helps the healing process go, okay, I can live with this because maybe someone out there gets to see their
grandbabies, gets to see um things that they never saw before. We did a Zoom um lighting of a candle the year um on the one-year anniversary lines does this for um organ donors. And there was a young girl that said that
she couldn't see her grandbaby or she couldn't see her baby. Even picked up the wrong baby at the hospital. And to this day, she keeps the donor's picture next to her bed because of how much it meant to her. And to me that just was a total testimony of what it really means
because some people really need these organs. And when obviously the only thing my son could give was his eyesight, but when you know that it helps somebody increase the quality of their life and um to this day is
probably living uh doing maybe what they were meant to do to begin with that God had intended them to do and they needed their eyesight to do it. Um helps a lot with the healing process. Um we really appreciate this. It means a lot to to have a proclamation by the city um of
Jacksonville Beach to um to proclaim it to be organ donation month. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your story. Yeah. Thank you. If you ever need to find more information about organ donation and donate life month, donate life Florida.org. But definitely talk to your family because ultimately
you could save up to a hundred lives one day. Thank you both for being here today. Moving on to Oh, Miss Goldie, sorry. Go ahead. Thank you, Mayor. I I just wanted to take a moment, if if you don't mind, to
thank the ladies for being here tonight. And I also wanted to mention that there's a doctor that works for Mayo Clinic that lives here in Jacksonville Beach. And I was hoping she could be here tonight, but she's actually rather busy person, but she is an amazing
representative of what organ donation means because she received a heart transplant. Um, she's in her 40s. She is saving lives every day. And that one gift from that donor has made a
tremendous impact not only on her life but on so many other people's lives. And uh she is an absolute inspiration. And I wish she could have been here tonight. But uh but I encourage anyone if you if you're thinking about it, please uh become an
organ donor because you can make an an impact for sure. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Golding. Moving on to the ordinances. I think we're going to hear from Chief Smith on the first one. Um, we uh presented the ordinance
first draft um at the workshop last week, I believe it was. And um so the ordinance is there um for you to read as completed by um me and then passed on to Dave. Um if anybody has any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them. Thank you, Chief. We'll go ahead and get
the get the discussion going, the public hearing. We'll call on you. Uh Madam Clerk, will you read the ordinance by title, please? An ordinance, excuse me, an ordinance of the city of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, amending chapter 31, traffic and motor
vehicles, article three, stopping, standing, and parking. Section 31 through 36, maximum parking time to add a provision for parking on the state road A1A providing for legislative
findings, repeal of conflicting ordinances, severability, scriptors error, codification, and an effective date. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This ordinance is before the council for a public hearing and consideration on its first
reading. I will now open the public hearing on ordinance number 2025-8222. We have do have a couple speaker cards on this item. We will start with Brandon Angel. Come on up to the podium and give us your name and address and you'll have three minutes.
Hello. Thank you. Uh my name is Brandon Angel and I live at 1204 Street South and I'm given the perspective of a resident and a truck driver. Um Alicia and I are team
drivers and we live right there off of Third and 12th South. Um you know, so I definitely understand the parking issue. I just think that maybe we um need an
alternative solution. I I've heard resident parking mentioned a few times. I would definitely think that's along the lines. But um I've been a resident of the beach for over a decade and I operate a local business um through a
home office logistics um pay my taxes right here. And you know, as a truck driver, I really rely on A1A. Um when we come home, you know, a lot of times we're over the road. It'll be, you know, months at a time, especially in the cold
months. And then we come home and we really rely on A1A. There's a shortage of truck parking across the country and it's, you know, it's it kind of increases closer you get to the beach
definitely. Um we we normally run over for months, but then we come home, you know, summer months, we might stay a week here and there. Um, we like to enjoy the warm weather, the the water, but of course, you know, um, we we have
to do things like clean out the truck, laundry, whatever, etc. Um, it it makes it safer to load and unload um out of the truck. Um, and we can keep an eye on it just to make sure it's safe, you
know, from the house. Um, you know, it's it's definitely partially safety and convenience for us to be able to park there. So, I think restricting parking on A1A would, you know, it
impact my ability to run my business, maintain my livelihood. Um, it would make it much harder to receive and organize business deliveries at my home office and it it kind of eliminate my own only viable parking option for my
truck. I will say most of the times we don't have a trailer and I think you know there could be different provisions um residents only parking being one of them maybe um without trailers being another.
Um, I do think this would negatively affect my ability to operate my business. And I know that the neighbors that I've spoken with, I'm all well acquainted and friendly. They haven't expressed any issues with our
parking, at least, you know, in my vicinity. Um, there's no complaints regarding my parking. I mean, we do see the limitations and I know local restaurants and businesses overflows, they're already crowding our
area. We've had cars parking in our driveway that, you know, we had to ask to to move for our cars. Um, but I've also been told by local law enforcement that trucks can't park east of A1A whatsoever, even without a
trailer. So instead of an outright parking restriction, I would hope that we could consider implementing a permit system, maybe with longerterm parking. Um, you know, these could be for
residents and local businesses. And these could be renewable permits that, you know, we would pay a reasonable fee um just to update showing that we're still operating or residing it in this local
area. Um I think it' help manage the availability of parking. It could reduce the issues of the long-term parking by non-residents. Um as a resident and a local business owner, I'd be eligible
for the permit. allow me to continue my operations and the solution I think would address needs kind of a more balanced approach. Um so I mean I I hope that there would be another consideration. I
mean that's the main reason. um just rejecting the ordinance the way it is and hopefully we can come up with something a little bit more flexible for the residents that also operate trucks.
Thank you, Mr. Angel. Thank you. Terry Delo. Terry Delo, 40532nd Avenue South. Honorable mayor, members of the city council, thank you so much for this time. Um, I do support your uh
4hour parking limitation on A1A. I think uh that that it has become a problem. I think that's why we're addressing it right now is because it has become a problem and you've had people complaining to you about the trucks parking up and down A1A. The four hours
would allow them to offload or do whatever they need to do but not stay there overnight. And so I think there's I think there's a real need for that. That's not the vision for Jacksonville Beach 201, 10, 20 years from now doesn't include semis parked up and down Third
Street as our guests, as our tourists, as our residents drive into Jacksonville Beach. They won't see it if they go south and they won't see it if they go north, but they do see it in Jacksonville Beach. The other thing is um real quickly because everybody's
already addressed the off the part the situations on 32nd and 33rd that are a direct result of businesses that are not allowing their employees to park in their businesses. So this just happened.
I've lived on 32nd South for over 30 years as is my brother and Janelle Wilson's have business etc. We've never had this problem. has been nice residential area. Um, so I am a little concerned about u the the long-term effect of people now
going uh not having the parking spaces on Third Street that work in these businesses. There were six of them in front of one of the businesses today that I noticed would have to come down um the arteries, the residential arteries. Um I do like the suggestion that the gentleman had about uh
residential parking only and that might be an answer. We do have to look at the big picture. There is a bigger picture here that we have to take in consideration and maybe addressing something like that or doing a little more homework into how other cities are addressing this. And again maybe the
residents only parking signs are something that we would look at up and down the streets as our city grows. It is going to be something we're going to need to address, but I do support what we're looking at right now, the 4 hour. And I thank you very much for the time
and hopefully we can get this solved. Thanks again. Thank you, Mr. Delo. That is all I have for speaker cards. Would anyone else like to address the issue either in favor of or in opposition to come on up to the podium? Seeing none, public
hearing is closed. Can I have a motion? I move that we approve ordinance number 2025-8222 on the first reading restricting parking on State Road A18 South and schedule a second reading for May 5th, 2025. Second. Thank you. We
have a motion and a second. And before we go to council comments, Mr. Stoplos, can you just give us some background on discussions with the FDOT on kind of what we can and cannot do with this issue? Sure. Um, I think the council is aware and hopefully the the public if
they watched any of the briefing from last week. DOT controls the A1A corridor. We do not and we can only do on that corridor what they will allow us to do uh with regards to signage and enforcement actions. Chief Smith and I actually went back and forth with a
representative at DOT with a series of questions for them about what we could or could not do. Uh basically the time restriction is really the uh the direction that they pointed us in and would support. Uh we asked them if we could do things like time timed parking
during the day, no parking overnight. They said no. We would also not be allowed to uh discriminate against different types of vehicles. It's vehicle parking period. So with that being said, the one option that stands out to us is the ability to restrict the amount of time that a vehicle is parked
on A1A. And that's really the uh the element that we can enforce at this point. Thank you uh Mr. Wagner. Thank you. So as I listen and by the way, thank thank you for everybody uh
for coming and sharing us your thoughts. We know this is very important issue for lots of different people and for lots of different reasons. So thank you. Um we know it's not easy to stand up there particularly with the mics turned down. Um, so as I as I listen to everybody, I really heard four separate intertwined
issues and and I don't know that we're as we sit tonight, what we have proposed is designed to solve four separate issues. So the first, you know, we have the semis parking on Third Street and it really and it's really targeted to those
that are parking there overnight with a with with the with the trailer leaving the engine running all night, those type of folks. and that's very disturbing to to folks that are living there. There's a secondary issue which I really appreciate uh Mr. Angel bringing it to our attention because I don't know that we focused on that which is really our
resident truck drivers and that that has a little bit of a different issue and and and a and a different impact as as well. There's also this residential parking that has the potential of getting worse, but yet it in of itself is a separate issue, right? It's one
that that this can help get worse if we don't figure out how to make that separate issue better. And and so one of the things we're going to have to figure out how we do is either intersect or dissect these two issues and address them both. Um but I don't know that um our thinking today does that. And then
lastly, there really is beach parking and beach parking on third limited to four hours is going to cause some change. And then just an exasperation of that semis on third is is if if you stop it at 27th does it push everybody up to 15th? And so, so we
really do th this was not a simple let's put up a sign, pat ourselves on the back type of issue. This is one that um and and for those that aren't aware that, you know, the mayor and city staff has spent a lot of time and and our police chief trying to work to come up with a good solution,
working with the appropriate authorities. So, please don't think this is something we haven't been paying attention to and we haven't been hearing you. Um, with that being said, um, we also need to understand, you know, is it worth solving some of these issues that may exasperate another one while we're
doing while we're addressing that one and and so as we talk about that tonight, I think that's something we're going to have to explore. So, kind of wanted to share that because I want folks to understand that we heard you and we can dissect and look at all these different issues. Thank you, Mr. Wagner. Mr. Sutton,
uh, Mr. Stfopoulos. Um the the discussions that we had is my mic on Okay. The discussions that we had with um Florida DOT were only as it pertains to a state
of Florida road. Is that correct? That's correct. It was specific to A1A car. So So things Well, now it's on for sure. So things like uh time and um the things that they would not allow us to do would
not be applicable if we were to consider an amendment on some of these um secondary streets that are city of Jacksonville Beach streets. That would be at our That's correct. When you talk about 32nd, 33rd, uh 4th Street, etc., those
are all local roads. Those are under our jurisdiction. Yeah. I um I I do think you know that mo the most recent issue on those streets has been
um caused by some of the businesses there along the west side of Third Street. Um but this ordinance has the uh possibility of exacerbating that even further.
Um, I I do think we could do something within this ordinance that would prohibit parking along those streets. We could add that to this ordinance, but my concern is that we're sort of kicking it down the street, right? And then it's just going to we're just going to end up
doing ordinances all over the place to, you know, it's just going to mushroom. So, um, that would that's a concern of mine. I mean, I my my gut feel is to expand the ordinance to cover some of those other areas down there, but um I'd be concerned that we're just pushing to
Mr. Wagner's point, pushing it up the road. My thought on that would be that's that issue needs to be handled separately with starting maybe with a workshop um versus this issue is pretty distinct and specific and it deals with a state
agency. So maybe keep this one dealing with one topic. That's that's just my thought in it. Uh Mr. Jansen. Yeah, you just kind of echoed what I was going to say that um the one thing that we have to be cognitive here is there's preeemptions by the Department of Transportation. They're the ones that's
their roadway. It's not our roadway. So we kind of have to work in under their guidelines. Um there are some other rudimentary issues here that will need to be addressed but I don't think this is the avenue in which we would address them but we definitely need to address them and the fact that they might be
moving into the residential area or employees are parking and you know where and not in their own parking lots but be cognitive you know as a as an audience that the Department of Transportation holds jurisdiction on their own roadways not us. So, just keep that in mind when
we're when we're discussing this. Miss Golding. Thank you, Mayor. Um, so I'd like to clarify a few things. I know Mr. Angel um said that he lives near 12th Avenue South. So, just to be
clear, this ordinance that we're discussing tonight is strictly 25th Avenue South to the Panavidra. um line or the the St. John's County line. Um so this does not impact
anything in your area um near your home. Um what it does is it addresses the concerns that we've heard from several people and this area from 25th Avenue South to the Pontabra line is very residential except for that section that
Ms. Wilson and some of the other speakers have talked about that's commercial on the west side of A1A and you know I I would just encourage people to you know consider the situation that some of our residents who've reached out to us have had their houses are right
there along A1A and they have an 18-wheeler that's parking right there next to their house and running all night long and you know the cab is able to see over into their backyard into their windows and you know we've had you
know residents who are single females that don't feel comfortable with that particular situation and and that's understandable. My support for this is because this is a residential area that we're focusing on and I think that it's appropriate that we don't have that type
of parking along that residential area. And to Mr. Sutton's concern about and Mr. for Wagner's as well. I think that the the um employee parking along A1A is definitely something that we need to
look at, but I don't know I don't know if we can carve that out. Um can we carve that out at all? like the area that they have the concerns between on the west side of A1A to say that I mean
to not require 4-hour parking just in those few blocks. Is that possible? Excuse me. Th this would be entirely at the discretion and cooperation from the state DOT. Um we've worked with them because we are
fully preempted on this. So, so we we need their their blessing for lack of a better term. So, no, we can't do that absent DOT consent. Okay. So, I would but I would say that I think that a as
some of my colleagues have said that that issue is an issue that we need to address. um I think in more detail. I don't think it's going to be solved tonight and I don't think it's appropriate for us to try to solve it tonight, but perhaps that's something we
investigate it. It now what it does is it opens up 18 semi parking there in front of that those businesses. But, you know, maybe that's maybe that's preferred to allow the semis there just so that the employees could still park
there. But I think that's something we need to discuss as the mayor said in another uh briefing or workshop. So um I I just wanted to clarify for everyone that uh that you know this is strictly
limited to 25th Avenue South to the Panavidra the Panavra line. Thank you Miss Golding and Mr. Wagner. Um, so a as we're talking this through, I you know, the timing on this ordinance change would become effective upon the
second vote, which would be the 5th, right? And so just personally, I have a little bit of concern about us implementing this change. I mean, it's years in the making. So, if it was another month, I don't know that that
hurts anyone until we actually also address the the um the resident parking issue as well. Um because there there's no reason to make that worse um for if we could address the other one
in, you know, in a relatively reasonable time frame. So, I'd like to throw that out there for consideration. I second I still have some concern about if it starts on the 25th and I know that's the deal we you know the only concession we have with the FDOT we are going to have to address them moving up to North
Jack's beach or further up the the beaches. So that's this is this is just the part one of a two-part issue. Um and then then lastly and and I don't know that we have the appropriate people to ask the question here. So um David I'll put you on the spot and if it's and if
if it's unfair you can call you can throw a flag. you can throw the yellow flag at me, but um a pen or um for the the two two couple or I think there's two businesses specifically that were used as examples. There's the dermatology office and the uh the
veterary which by the way like both those businesses. So this isn't personal to either one of those businesses and and that emergency vet took care of my poison dog for four years and save or four days and saved its life. So I really do love that place. So this isn't an affront on them.
Um but the the the decision made to not allow employees to park in their business parking and to push them into uh other way other to find other parking on their own. Um is that outside of
uh kind of the the shouldn't is there I'm trying to determine is are they able to do that? Shouldn't some type of parking requirement for both those businesses be in place? And I know we haven't researched it, but there's is there something there we should be looking into? So, I'm going to give you an attorney answer that's going to give
you two related parts without a clear answer. It's a bad question. So, I didn't word the question well, so the answer's fine. So, in in a general sense, under our land development code, there are parking requirements for for certain businesses. So, they they would need to meet that to get their development approvals. Um, and then
related, but not answering your question, but the the best I could do right now is say that, you know, one section of the Florida statutes, which we've already indirectly referenced several times tonight, you know, states that we do not have jurisdiction for parking over state roads, but another
section in in the same statute states that, you know, local governments may regulate parking with respect to the streets and highways under their jurisdiction. So anything that's not a state or county road, you know, we could we have greater latitude to regulate
that how we see how we deem it is best to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our residents. So there's there's possible more possible solutions on the local roads than on the state road. So um ba based on your answer, and thank you for that. That's fabulous. One of the things I'd like to ask city staff
to do um over the next couple of weeks is to reach out to those uh business owners and to share with them that we're the s where we are right now is we can regulate that those streets. if we put an end to the parking there and make
that resident only, um, they need to think about how they're going to handle their parking for their employees because the third street is also not going to be available. And I don't want to hurt our local businesses. So, I'd like to see how we can figure out how we can work together with them and see if there's some way we can help uh work
together and solve this problem. Um, and and maybe that should be done before we have a workshop or a briefing on it just so we have that as input. Thank you, Mr. Ragner. I just want to throw a note of caution out that if we start talking about resident only
parking on any street in this community, every street in this community is going to want it. So, we will have a citywide issue, not just a specific neighborhood issue because everybody within a few blocks of Third Street is near businesses. So, um I feel like this is
probably not an isolated issue. So, if we want to go down that road, that's up to the council. But just remember this moment, Mr. Horn. Yeah, I was going to say thank you. Number one, thank you to everybody that came and talked. We I've communicated with several of you on this subject. Um,
I've talked to the chief of police. I've talked to Mike. I've talked to Heather Island about these things. Um, one of the things that did come up was the discussion about um the possibility of a carveout. And yeah, I think unfortunately that is going to have its own unintended side effects.
Um, uh, and you know, even I think we discussed there was brought up possibly the idea of maybe saying, okay, well, we're going to, um, yeah, make resident parking. And I I I I started to think about that as well and I'm like, well, okay, wait. If we do
it for this area, then we're going to be doesn't have the unintended consequence of if we say you can't park on 32nd or 33rd. Well, then it's going to go to 31st and it's going to go to 35th or it's going to go across the street, it's going to go somewhere else. Um,
Jacksonville Beach is small and we don't have a ton of parking. I do agree with uh Councilman Wagner in that yes, I would like the city staff to look into working with these businesses. We want to see the businesses thrive, but at the same time, we don't want to see them
thrive at the expense of the residents. Um and um yeah, I just I just I wanted to throw my comments in there. And um for Mr. Angel, uh you know, thank you for what you do. Um, again, you know, truckers keep the keep the country moving. Um,
and you know, happy to I I think one of the problems that, you know, you I think are probably an anomaly in that I don't know if you can say, "Hey, you know, I know 10 other people that drive, you know, semi-trailers that live here in J Beach right off of Third Street. So, you
know, we'll keep working with you and do everything we can for you." I think the one of the things that the mayor mentioned and uh Councilwoman Golding as well and that is we had some issues with some residents who were, you know, literally, you know, hey, I get out of my, you know, I get out of my shower at night, I look out the window and there's
somebody in the cab of their truck, you know, hey, how's it going? and that you know when you when you really get to the point where it's these tight you know a dense residential area that is just a budding third street as oppo which which is really that kind of area on the east side of of third 25th down to the county
line that was what the issue that we were dealing with and you know again uh we try and do the best we can never make everybody happy um like Councilman Wagner has said several times if everybody's unhappy then then you know that's the that's the gold standard for
a good a good deal. So, um, thank you all for coming out and speaking and I again, if I always encourage people if we're not meeting your needs, uh, make sure you reach out. Thank you, Mr. Horn, Mr. Stfopoulos.
Just to throw out to council, uh, one of the things that you could consider tonight if you take a look at section 2B where we call out 25th Avenue South as the northern boundary and the southern boundary as the Duval St. John's County line. You could bifycate that into two
parts. You could do the east side of the road from 25th Avenue South to the St. John's County line. And you could do the west side of the road from 34th Avenue South to the St. John's County line. that would allow the parking that's on A1A at the start of what is effectively
the commercial district there with Bank of Ozark um and the dermatology and the others to still utilize the parking in that particular area. The 25th was um an area that the chief and I talked about as where we're seeing the majority of of
trucks being an issue is from 25th south. But certainly you could um alleviate the the restriction on the west side of the road and pull that northern boundary down a little bit if you so chose to do. The 25th south was primarily on the east
side though. Correct. Yeah, that's correct. Thank you, Mr. Spopabolis. Miss Golding. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to do a quick followup because um the problems that have been shared by um some of the
some of the speakers tonight with the business in South Jack Beach is not just limited to South Jack Beach. Um I I live in the North District and we've got issues with the same situation off of
Pimman Road. not on Pimman Road, but on the side streets off of Pimman Road because people, the employees at some of those businesses are not parking in the parking lots of those businesses, but parking in the ride ofway along the side streets. So, this is this is definitely
a u an issue that's that exists in in more places than just South Jack Beach. Um, that being said, I'd be willing to make a motion to amend our ordinance to
um change that section two to um subsection B to 25th Avenue South on the east side and 34th Avenue South on the west
side would be limited to 4 hours. Secondly, we have a motion and a second to amend the original ordinance. Is there any discussion on this amendment? Mr.
Wagner, go ahead. Just a quick question, David. So the the answer that you gave counselor Golding earlier around not being able to carve out that one section and then sounds like we changed one side versus the other. Is that not the same
dynamic? Um and and is there is are we are we making a motion to do something we don't know that we can do yet? So I think we we we need to check with DOT. I I was not part of those DOT discussions. So, I don't have the the firsthand knowledge as to how restrictive they are, but I see no
reason why because it's it's it's narrow in its scope and it's it's certain and definite that we can't if if it's the will of this board to pass that motion, we could consult with DOT between now and and May 5th. And if if there is any
sort of rejection to that, we could regroup again. But this would move it along if again if that's what you all decide to vote. I don't see any problem with that. But but that is a a good point you raised. Thank you, Mr. Jansen.
Yeah. So to beat that horse, again, a reminder, it's DOT's property. It's they hold jurisdiction. Um and so not only can you complain to us about the parking situation along A1A, but they're an entity within themselves, so they're
open to hearing what you have to say as well. Um, for the matter at hand though, Chief, you you were in discussions with them with the DOT, do you anticipate that there would be any kind of a problem with this type of amendment and your conversations with them? Um, from the general feeling of DOT and our
conversation, I don't think there'll be a problem on a carve out that was basically left us on how far north or south to proceed either side of the road. There are no specifications given. So, I would I would agree with um with the carve out. Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Jansen. Mr. Horn, I guess again this may be for Chief, but just kind of a general question. So the the flip side of that coin is if we make the carve out and then six months from now all of our parking issues are
addressed and we now have a desire to go back to the original wording minus the carveout. I would like to know do you I guess I'm not sure if this is a David question or a GP question or Mike question is that a possibility that we
can come back with an ordinance or either revise this one back to the original wording. Does that make sense? You know I'm just I'm not sure where if down the road we address all these things and then our our desire is to say okay let's go back to what our original thoughts were. How does that occur?
Due to the the language in the statute that preempts us, I would recommend that should that arise that we go back and coordinate with DOT again. I think we would it would be a best practice to make sure they're on board with any changes due to their ultimate authority on it. Okay. Okay. But but it's not a
it's not a dealbreaker. It's not like, oh yeah, this is your one shot, you know, at the Okay. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Jansen. Just kidding. Any other comments on the proposed amendment? Seeing no
additional comments, uh, roll call on just the amendment. Council member Golding, yes. Council member Horn, yes. Council member Jansen, yes. Council member Sutton, yes. Council member Wagner, yes. Mayor Hoffman, yes.
The amendment passes back to the original item as amended. Any further discussion on the first reading, Miss Golding? The only thing I would suggest is that um between now and May 5th is that there be some communication with the businesses down there so that they know
that um that this carveout happened and that there is the possibility that they will have semi-parking there just because of what we were trying to do um with the ordinance originally. And maybe that's a good opportunity too to share
with those businesses the the problems that the complaints that we've been getting with with the residents in the area. So they're at least they have the ability to make some changes perhaps before you know uh and and try to
address the issues rather than us having to make policy or do something you know to actually uh restrict parking along those side streets. Mr. Wagner. Um, thank you, Councelor
Golding. And and just to kind of piggyback off that because it was um based on your words of caution, mayor. Um, one of the things I wanted to just share is there's there's there's still space between um residential only and do nothing,
right? So, there's um non-resident two-hour limits or something along those lines that we could put in place as well. So, I think I I still believe there's plenty to talk to those employers about that we could take action on. Um, I don't think we have to go to them and say, "Here's the action we're going to take at this point." Other than we are going to have to solve
this issue for our residents and and the situation that they're in, at least by some members of our council, this one particularly is very unfair. Um and so um so I do I just wanted to kind of share that that is as we talk to those businesses there there's a there's a
continuum of opportunities we have and if they don't help us solve then then they're they put themselves at risk for uh where we decide to end up on that continuum. Thank you Mr. Wagner. Mr. Sutton. Yeah. Just to reiterate that from Councilwoman
Golding and Councilman Wagner. I think between now and May 5th um if there are discussions that occur as recommended with those businesses that we also I mean effectively put them on notice that there's also additional changes that are
coming as it relates to west of Third Street um you know city streets west of Third Street and uh what those are is to be determined. Um but it you know what the intent would be which would be to
you know not have employees or patrons for that matter of those businesses parking up and down those residential streets and let them start um planning on what to do whether that's cutting a deal with Regency Centers and sending people to the Home Depot parking lot
renting space from them or something. Thank you Mr. Sutton. Any other comments or questions on the item as amended? See none. Madam clerk, roll call. Council member Horn, yes. Council member Jansen, yes. Council member Sutton, yes. Council
member Wagner, yes. Council member Golding, yes. Mayor Hoffman, yes. Motion carries. Moving on to ordinance 2025 8223. This is also Chief. Come on up.
Jean Paul Smith, chief of police. Uh, same as before. We talked about the u the smoking ban on the beach now for six months or so. We did a little research on it and uh ran it through legal and um it's there for the first reading as we
discussed in the workshop last week. Thank you, Chief. Madame Clerk, will you read the ordinance by title, please? An ordinance of the city of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, amending chapter 6, beaches and bulkheads, article three,
use of Atlantic Ocean Beach, section 6-45, prohibiting activities and items on Atlantic Ocean Beach to provide a prohibition against smoking on the beach and amending section
6-57 enforcement citation form hearing penalties. to make necessary corrections and clarifications, providing for legislative findings, repeal of conflicting ordinances, severability, scribner's errors,
cotification, and in effective date. Thank you. This ordinance is before the council for a public hearing and consideration on its first reading. I will now open the public hearing on ordinance number 2025-8223. We do have one speaker card
on this item, Katie Montalto. Come on up to the podium. Give us your name and address and you'll have three minutes to address the council. Good evening. Katie Monsado, 3591 current at South Jacksonville, Florida. I'm here on behalf of tobaccof free
Jacksonville and as one of many who deeply value the health and beauty of our public spaces. First, I want to sincerely thank the city of Jacksonville Beach for your leadership in adopting tobaccof free policies for our parks. This important step shows your commitment to protecting our environment
and promoting public health, and we are truly grateful. Now, we have another opportunity to build on that momentum by adopting a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance for our beaches. Our beaches are a cherished part of life here in Jacksonville Beach. They bring families, friends, and visitors together to enjoy
the outdoors and make lasting memories. But in order to keep these shared spaces pristine, safe, and welcoming, we must act to protect them. The Florida Clean Air Act, updated in 2022, gave communities like ours the ability to regulate tobacco use in parks and
beaches. Since then, over 80 m municipalities across Florida, have moved forward with similar protections. Jacksonville Beach has the chance to join this growing movement and be a leader in community wellness. We strongly support the proposed smoke-free ordinance and encourage you to adopt it
with one important addition, including electronic smoking devices such as vapes in the final policy. Cigarette butts are the single most littered item in the world and they pose serious threats to marine life, our waterways, and young children who may pick them up. But
disposable ecigarettes and vape pod pods are quickly adding to the problem, creating plastic and chemical waste that is just as as dangerous. Beyond the environmental impact, secondhand smoke and secondhand vapor put others at risk. In Duval County, one in four adults currently
smoke and one in eight vape. Policies restricting tobacco use in public places benefit the health of communities by reducing tobacco use, protecting youth, and decreasing exposure to secondhand smoke. Changing social norms so that youth are not exposed to smoking or
vaping as accepted behaviors is especially important in the ongoing mission to bring down overall tobacco use rates. What youth see in their environment matters. Tobaccof free policies prevent people from starting to use tobacco by changing social norms so that tobacco is not seen as an
acceptable behavior. By making our beaches smoke free and vape free, we are creating a cleaner, healthier space for everyone and setting a powerful example of what it means to live well. So much work is being done to keep our city clean and harmfree. Why would we not want to do the same for our beaches?
Tobaccofree Jacksonville is proud to support this effort and would be happy to collaborate with the city as this policy moves forward. Thank you again for your continued commitment to public health and for considering this important next step to protect our beaches, our community, and future
generations. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Montalto. That's the only speaker card I have. Would anyone else like to address this issue either for or against? Seeing none, this public hearing is closed. Can I have a motion to adopt the ordinance? I move that we approve ordinance number
20258223 on the first reading prohibiting smoking on the beach and schedule a second reading for May 5th, 2025. Second. We have a motion and a second discussion from councel. Mr. Jansen. So just a just a couple of things. One,
um I do appreciate um the sentiments uh that was presented. Um, secondhand smoke does have its its health problems that are associated with it. Um, and hearing at the beginning of the meeting that
there was 11,000 cigarette butts on the beach. I'm not sure who counted all those, but golly, that's a lot and we don't want it. That's for sure. Um, juaposed to that position is government overreach. You know, at what point does the government get to tell you where you
can do something and where you can't do something in public spaces? So, the conservative side of me says we got to be careful with that. Though I do support this for tonight. I think it's a good um good ordinance for our community. Um we have to be mindful of
those those issues when it comes to um consideration of government overreach. Thank you, Mr. Jansen. Miss Golding. Thank you, Mayor. Um I appreciate my colleagues comments. Um, and I I would
like to just add that um currently Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach already um restrict smoking on the beach in their communities. And so I I think it's only appropriate that that we do the same so that all of our beaches are um
have the same rules. Um, I, as I mentioned in the briefing, I would like to see us include vaping, but I think at this point I'm willing to um go with what we have currently and then potentially consider adding vaping at a
future date. Um, but I I definitely support um this bill tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Golding. Mr. Jansen, revisit. Uh, yeah, really quick. Uh, wasn't there state preeemptions on vaping? I would like to see vaping as
well, but I think the state does not allow us to isolate vaping or it's not addressed. Can you talk about that, Mr. May? Yes. And I've researched this more since we since we spoke last week uh as as you all brought brought it up, but
the actual 2000 the 2022 change in state law uh would allow us to uh impose restrictive regulations on the use of vapor generating devices. So we we are no longer preempted on that as a result of the 2022 changes to state law. Okay,
that was that's good to know. Thank you, Mr. Mig. Mr. questions and any other comments. Um, I would just like to say I'm really glad that we're taking this up. I'm glad that the state has uh given us the opportunity to regulate smoking in our
parks, which we did right away. And now um as we take the steps to look at our beaches, you may not know, part of my background career was working for the American Cancer Society. And I was on the campaign that made restaurant smokefree in 2000. and it was on the
2002 ballot. Um, and there was a lot of discussion at that time about um, personal freedoms and and government overreach. And I bet if you walked into a restaurant right now and they were smoking, you would turn around and walk right back out. Um, it's not even an issue anymore. It's not even anything um
that people consider as a a realistic um, option in our society. So, I do think that um, this is even so much more than than health, but it is about the environment. It's about litter. is about people coming and safely enjoying our
beaches, which is something that we all strive for. Um, so I'm glad that we're um taking this step. I'm still mixed on on vaping. I would definitely um be interested in further discussion on that. We have talked about that several
times in our briefings and kind of came down to the conclusion that it doesn't create the same volume of of litter and environmental impact as vaping. But um certainly something we can continue to discuss. Miss Golding, just a quick question um in followup. Um Mr.
Migot, did you have a chance to look at the Neptune Beach ordinance because it was my understanding when I read it that they do restrict vaping as well as smoking? I haven't looked at it in the last week. I I may have looked at it in the past, but not I don't recall it specifically
enough to answer that question, sir. Okay. Uh because as I mentioned in the briefing, I think it's something that that we should consider if Neptune Beach is restricting vaping too because since they are the beach adjacent to us, most people don't know when they're in J
Beach or when they're in Neptune Beach. Uh again, you know, I don't know that that needs to be addressed tonight. I think if we could do a little more due diligence into into that, if you wouldn't mind, Mr. Migot, at least checking to see if that's the case. um
then that's something we could always bring up at a future meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments from council? Madam clerk, roll call. Council member Jansen, yes. Council member Sutton, yes. Council member
Wagner, yes. Council member Golding, yes. Council member Horn, yes. Mayor Hoffman, yes. Motion carries. Put my agenda away too fast. And can we have a motion for adjournment? Uh move to adjourn. Second.
All in favor signify by saying I. I.