Residents Oppose Road Extension Supporters See Changes for South Beach Parkway As Helping in an Evacuation.

By CHRISTINA ABEL

PONTE VEDRA BEACH – Some residents are opposing an idea to extend South Beach Parkway from the Duval County line south into St. Johns County, where it would hook into Ponte Vedra Lakes Boulevard.

Jack McHerron, president of the Ponte Vedra Lakes Masters Association, said the boulevard is a private road that the residents maintain. Connecting South Beach Parkway to that road would require homeowners’ approval and he said the association’s 1,800 residents don’t want the connection. Opening it up would raise the cost of maintaining it for public evacuations and other uses, he said.

The idea to extend the parkway into Ponte Vedra Beach is not new and has been discussed in the community on and off for at least the last decade.

At a Ponte Vedra Beaches Coalition meeting Monday, residents said they don’t know why the issue is coming up again, but they want to stop it before it gains any traction.

“It’s like a punching bag,” said Beaches Coalition President Clara Cowan. “You knock it down and it comes back and hits you in the head.”

This time, the issue was proposed by the Marsh Landing Homeowners Association in a December letter to the county.

“We believe that by extending South Beach Boulevard … to the Ponte Vedra Lakes Boulevard, not only would the traffic flow improve greatly during normal and peak traffic hours, but would also help to relieve pressure during periods of evacuation,” Marsh Landing Homeowner Association President Joe Adiutori wrote.

Then, in February, St. Johns County Commissioner Tom Manuel, who represents the Ponte Vedra Beach area, brought the idea up at a public meeting.

“I’m trying to make certain there’s more than one way to get out of town,” Manuel said. He said the road should be used specifically for evacuations.

Manuel said this is the only road he has seen that could be used for this purpose.

“It would be the easiest, the shortest connection [to Butler],” he said.

But residents at Monday’s meeting said that opening up that small portion of South Beach Parkway wouldn’t help hurricane evacuation. Simply driving a quarter-mile west on Marsh Landing Parkway then to Sanctuary Parkway would get them to Butler Boulevard just as quickly, they contend.

“That little strip of land is not going to help evacuation,” said Cowan.

In other meeting business, representatives from four Ponte Vedra Beach homeowner associations said their associations do not support Marsh Landing Homeowner Association’s attempt to amend a county ordinance that would allow associations to no longer comply with Florida Sunshine Laws.

Under the guidance of attorney Barry Ansbacher, the Marsh Landing association is trying to change the county rule so that they no longer have to publicize every meeting ahead of time and prohibit two or more members of the association from talking about association business outside a public meeting.

Ansbacher said that requiring associations to comply with Sunshine laws is a by-product of a county ordinance and is not intentional. Therefore, he said, most associations don’t comply with Sunshine laws and don’t have the proper training or staff to do so. As a result, he said, they’re breaking the law unknowingly.

At Monday’s meeting, representatives from the Seaside community, the Ponte Vedra Lakes Masters Association, the Seahawk community and the Cypress Bridge Homeowners Association within the Players Club, said their residents oppose the amendment.christina.abel@jacksonville.com, (904) 249-4947, ext. 6319

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