Waterfront board approves draft Harbor Master Plan, forwards it to City Commission

The Fernandina Beach Waterfront Advisory Board voted unanimously Sept. 28 to approve a Phase‑1 draft Harbor Master Plan and forward the document to the City Commission for review at an Oct. 20 workshop. Jacob Platt, project manager for the plan, told the board the Phase‑1 study examines nine parcels in the North Front Street CRA and outlines six themes including pedestrian connectivity, marine‑focused commercial uses and integrating resilience investments with placemaking.

Platt said the draft includes three conceptual alternatives that emphasize different mixes of waterside expansion, landside redevelopment and public open space. "The challenge is not to choose between the city's past and its future, but to continually find the right balance between the two," Platt said while introducing historical aerial maps and the plan's core goals. Board members and members of the public focused discussion on the plan's resilience component — a proposed seawall that some concepts show extending into the water and backfilled to create developable land.

Several board members urged clarity on who would pay for the resilience wall and pressed for ordinance language to ensure maintenance if private owners install portions of the wall. "If the city is not going to pay for the whole thing, then I do think there needs to be some type of an ordinance put into place before these other properties are sold," a board member said during discussion. Platt said Phase 2 will expand public outreach and revisit engineering locations and cost estimates before the city pursues permits or funding.

The board approved a motion to send the draft plan to the City Commission; the motion was moved, seconded and adopted in a recorded roll call. The board asked that its discussion be included in the commission packet and indicated that members — including Chair Schaefer — may attend the commission workshop to present the board's feedback.