The creation of a no-parking ordinance along San Juan Drive just took a step closer to becoming a reality following a unanimous vote in favor of it by the Ponte Vedra Municipal Service District during its February meeting.
The vote allows for the next step in process to take place, which will include trustee Brad Wester and MSD attorney Wayne Flowers working on putting together an interlocal agreement that will then be passed along to representation with St. Johns County to be vetted through their proper channels.
If passed by the county, the no-parking ordinance would go into effect for the length of San Juan Drive from Solana Road to Ponte Vedra Boulevard.
According to Wester, the next step also includes the trustees meeting individually with the county commissioners and working to get the issue on the docket at a future county commission meeting.
The no-parking ordinance is expected to be similar to that of the one in place along Ponte Vedra Boulevard.
“San Juan has a lot more curves along its route compared to the boulevard,” Wester said. “For safety and circulation purposes, it shouldn’t be used as a parking lot, which is what it is right now.”
Many residents were on hand during the meeting to comment on the parking situation during the public comments section of the meeting prior to the vote taking place.
Some residents who live along the roadway had questions about how an ordinance would impact them having a party at their residence.
Any no-parking ordinance will not completely limit the use of the roadway for parking by residents who are having a party or a certain occasion that will require an excess of people.
However, they will be required to apply for a permit with the county in order to get that approval.
“That’s done quite a bit on the boulevard and deputy (John) Tedder can attest to that,” Wester said.
The push for a no-parking ordinance would not be directly linked to the sidewalk project along the route that has also been approved by the MSD and they are in the process of working out details with the county.
“They are sperate projects, but they both have safety in mind,” Wester said.
Wester and Flowers have been in talks with the county about drafting an agreement, that would have the MSD paying $200,000 in total, with $150,000 going toward a larger phase of the project and $50,000 for the smaller phase.
In other news from the meeting, the county is working on revising a new comprehensive plan and town hall meetings and input from the residents will be taken highly into consideration.
According to MSD chairman Al Hollon, major revisions to the current comprehensive plan have not been made since the mid-1990s.
An online survey is available for residents to complete, and more info is available by going to sjcplanupdate.com.
Also, trustee Kitty Switkes informed her fellow trustees that the lot at Sunset Park that was in question and required cleaning has been completed.
“It looks great now,” Switkes said.
Now that it is cleaned up, landscape crews will continue to maintain it.
