Fernandina Beach residents split over proposal to upgrade riverfront park

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — A handful of people spoke out against proposed upgrades to a Fernandina riverfront park on Tuesday night.

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They fear the park is attracting too many people, and there aren’t enough places to park.

However, City Commissioners went ahead and approved the upgrades in a 4 to 1 vote.

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The approved resolution was proposed by an engineering company that splits park upgrades into 3 phases: a parking lot design phase, a permit phase and a construction phase.

The project also intends to add more petanque courts to the park even though it’s already home to 16 courts. The total project budget is $120,000.

Michael Sharpe, a Fernandina Beach resident, said he doesn’t agree with what the city is doing.

“It’s wrong. We don’t want it. We’ve never wanted it,” he told Action News Jax’s Nick Gibson.

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Sharpe is afraid that these upgrades would take away from parking in the riverfront area.

“It used to be all parking, but they slowly eroded that. That parking is used by marina users and boat users,” Sharpe said. “Marina and petanque don’t go together. Marina and boats go together.”

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During Tuesday’s meeting, several residents spoke for or against the vote. Sharpe believes the park doesn’t need upgrades, but Jean Bonvouloir, who is a petanque player himself, doesn’t agree.

“It’s a game that’s played on gravel. It’s not played on grass. it doesn’t take up any room that anyone is using, and one of the arguments that the other side has is we take up parking,” Bonvouloir explained.

Bonvouloir said the vote means his petanque club can keep playing in the riverfront area.

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