Published by former Mayor George Gardner September 24 2014
The Report is an independent publication serving our community
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Fight against 7-Eleven
Vice mayor - 'It's over'
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FDOT indicated that they intend to permit. No trips planned to Texas.
Vice Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline
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Vice Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline says the community effort to block development of a 7-Eleven at congested May Street and San Marco avenue is over, including reported earlier plans for City Manager John Regan to travel to 7-Eleven corporate headquarters in Texas.
Sikes-Kline, who has been a champion of opposition to the 7-Eleven plan, even going to Lake City this week to plead with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials, says, "What people don't understand clearly is that after the first (city) permit was denied because it DID NOT meet the city's Entry Corridor Guidelines, the developer then submitted a whole NEW application that DID meet the Entry Corridor Guidelines,
"The NEW application was approved because it met all the demands made by staff as per guidelines."
Protesters, arguing everything from safety to environment, have staged rallies, email campaigns to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and pleas before the City Commission. Another rally is planned for September 28 from 4 to 5:30 pm.
"The wrangling is all based on the Entry Corridor Guidelines and NOT the 'use' (of a gas station) issue," says the vice mayor. "Most folks don't understand that and think that the city flipped on the 'use' issue. The 'use' issue was never disputed as it is a 'use by right' in the code."
Planning and Zoning Board member John Valdes, a City Commission candidate this year, said after board approval in 2012 to remove two trees on the proposed 7-Eleven site, "The only request needed was removal of two trees, and the board had no choice but to grant permission, while being fully aware of the long-term detrimental impacts this (proposed) development would have on the surrounding neighborhoods and the city as a whole."
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Hidden Lightner
Photographer Theresa Segal brings to light the treasures of Lightner Museum's "best attic in the world," as she calls it - 44 small 4th floor rooms, once staff quarters for the Alcazar Hotel and today storage for Otto Lightner's collection overflow.
Museum Curator Barry Myers' monthly tour October 1 will feature Theresa's photo study of more than two years, along with select items featured in the photographs.
The tour begins at 10 am and is included with museum admission - St. Johns County residents free.
Theresa's works will be on exhibit at the Lightner October 3 - January 2, with an opening reception 5:30 - 9 pm October 3 during First Friday Art Walk. Call ahead, exhibit hours will vary.
Image: Theresa Segal
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Opponents - not 'til
the fat lady sings
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Heather A. Upton, a paralegal with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), answered a battery of questions from north city resident Patrice Hughes.
7-Eleven opponents are sure to be poring over Upton's answers and files, looking for that opening to block the project.
Find the email exchange here and summary of a 2012 traffic study here.
Among responses from FDOT:
Our contamination analysis for the May Street/San Marco intersection has not identified any contamination concerns at this intersection. Any questions regarding gasoline or petroleum contamination should be directed to the FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection).
Storm water will be treated using dry detention and be routed through a control structure prior to discharging via a new pipe connection to the existing inlet in San Marco Ave.
The existing parking lane along US 1 approaching this (San Carlos) intersection is not wide enough to stripe as a right turn lane.
The FDOT is presently studying these intersections for operational improvements. We have not reached a stage in the study to suggest any improvements at this time.
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Riberia Pointe to
be a passive park
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City commissioners Monday approved designation of Riberia Pointe as a park to preserve open scenic vistas and conservation lands. Cash McVay, a member of the eight citizen organization Keep Riberia Pointe Green (KRPG) including mayoral candidate Nancy Shaver, presented the concept to commissioners.
"We have a rare opportunity to save a piece of property as phenomenal as we just saw (in a video)," Commissioner Leanna Freeman said.
Commission approval ends Lincolnville residents' concerns that commercial development would occur, similar to previously rejected coral growing and aquarium businesses.
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Two appointed to
city planning board
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Former Council on Aging Director Cathy Brown and former Planning and Zoning Board (PZB) Member Deltra Long were appointed Monday to fill two vacancies on PZB.
David Toner, who's reached the limit of two consecutive terms, and Janet Ponton Lewis, who's moving outside the city limits, opened up the vacancies on the seven member board.
The board hears applications for zoning exceptions and variances and appeals of decisions of the Planning and Building Department, and recommends to the City Commission land rezonings or changes to the Comprehensive Plan.
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County approves $559,810
in 2014-2015 bed tax grants
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The County Commission has approved 41 grant requests for $559,810 in bed tax funds as part of the 2014-15 county budget.
The funding will support Enhancement and Reenactments, Annual Programs, Product Development and Facilities.
The city of St. Augustine is biggest winner with four grants totaling $90,146. Some of the nonprofit volunteer groups thought it a bit unfair, the city having paid professionals to draft the extensive applications.
The city's grants are for Celebrate 450! $16,846 (asked $20,000), First City through Eyes of the Masters 13,357 (asked $20,000), Tapestry $54,379 (asked $80,000) and Concerts in the Plaza $5,564 (asked $9,000).
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City lawsuit a historic probe
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The city has been declared winner in a three-year lawsuit that took the court through 450 years of land title, 30 recorded title transfers and four seawalls.
The city paid Jacksonville's Gunster Law Firm $130,673.50 to argue its case.
In the case, Henry and Esther Whetstone claimed title to an extension of their Bayfront Inn property into the bay, which would allow them to build a 270-foot dock. The city claimed ownership of not only the bay bottomlands but as well the seawall, sidewalk and Avenida Menendez.
In his ruling, which can be appealed, Judge Howard Maltz stated, "There is a chain of title for Lot 4 (whose boundaries were disputed) stretching back to the 1700s. This chain of title was interrupted at several stages by geopolitics, as Spain, Britain, Spain, the United States, and finally the State of Florida exerted dominion over St. Augustine during its 450 year history.
"The rare sovereign intervention notwithstanding, Lot 4 was consistently conveyed, from one owner to the next, down through the centuries, with each conveyance including a description of the lot's boundaries.
And those boundaries, he concluded, end at the west side of today's Avenida Menendez.
Former City Attorney Ron Brown said, "This litigation was very complex and involved an extraordinary amount of historical research and documentation covering more than 200 years, and an equally extraordinary amount of legal analysis and preparation."
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History's Highlight
Age of exploration
350 days to St. Augustine's 450th anniversary
From Parallel Histories
Parallel Histories: Spain, the United States, and the American Frontier is a bilingual, multi-format English-Spanish digital library site that explores the interactions between Spain and the United States in America from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.
 At the dawn of the modern age, the Spanish Crown approached the exploration and settlement of the territory of what is today the United States from the unique experience of seven centuries of struggle against the Moors, who conquered Spain in 711.
During this period of reconquest, Spaniards developed ways of approaching peoples different from themselves and of justifying the struggle with such peoples. The consolidation of Spain allowed Queen Isabella (1451-1504) to finance Christopher Columbus' journey to the New World.
Armed with a 15th-century sense of right and wrong and secure in their identity as Christians, the Spanish set out to Christianize and conquer the newly discovered lands. They were required to follow certain procedures before they could begin hostilities.
Spaniards dutifully read the Requerimiento before every battle that they fought. This document stated that if the enemy agreed to accept the king of Spain as their monarch and Christianity as their religion, the Spaniards would not go to war against them.
Some indigenous peoples in America peacefully accepted these conditions and became subjects of Spain. Spanish rulers thus succeeded in transplanting their language, culture, religion, and legal system to a large part of the Americas.
Starting with Christopher Columbus' momentous voyages to the Caribbean (1492-93; 1493-96; 1498-1500; 1502-04), religion went hand-in-hand with exploration. Spaniards explored and partially settled more than half the present-day United States.
Spaniards were the first Europeans to map the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and contributed greatly to the knowledge of the interior of North America. In 1513 Juan Ponce de León landed in Florida. They later explored the Atlantic Coast as far north as Virginia and from Massachusetts to Maine.
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca arrived in Florida in 1527 and with three companions, including an African Spaniard, Estebanico, made their way overland to the Bay of California in 1536.
Other important Spanish explorers were Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who explored the Southwest from 1540-42, and Hernando de Soto, who discovered the Mississippi River in 1541.
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The St. Augustine Report is published weekly, with additional Reports previewing City Commission meetings as well as Special Reports. The Report is written and distributed by George Gardner, St. Augustine Mayor (2002-2006) and a former newspaper reporter and editor. Contact the Report at gardner@aug.com or gardnerstaug@yahoo.com
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