03-23-94 v MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP MEETING OF ATLANTIC BEACH CITY COMMISSION
HELD IN CITY HALL ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1994
Present were: Lyman T. Fletcher, Mayor
Suzanne Shaughnessy
J. Dezmond Waters, III, and
Robert G. Weiss, Commissioners
And: Kim D. Leinbach, City Manager
Jim Jarboe, Deputy City Manager
Maureen King, City Clerk
Absent: Steven M. Rosenbloom, Commissioner
The meeting, which was being held for the purpose of discussing
problems relative to traffic and parking throughout the city, was
called to order by the Mayor. He felt two areas which needed to be
addressed were speeding and parking. He reported that a traffic
and parking study had been conducted in 1992 by Albert H. Halff &
Associates. A committee had been formed and the members had biked
through the city and conducted a visual inspection of the parking
areas, particularly the street ends and beach accesses . He asked
Chief Thompson to report the committee' s findings.
Chief Thompson reported the committee found that "No Parking" signs
has been posted illegally by residents and the city had too many
signs, many of which said the same thing in different ways. Many
of the illegal signs had now been removed and the language on city
signs was being standardized, and marking of areas designated for
sticker parking was being improved. He indicated that additional
parking spaces had been identified but residents had landscaped
city rights-of-way, thus preventing other areas from being used for
parking.
Chief Thompson reported that Atlantic Beach police officers had
written 3, 500 citations for speeding in 1993 . Officers have been
assigned to residential areas more often but they are frequently
called away on other calls. He reported in response to requests
for speed bumps or stop signs the Police Department conducted speed
surveys and action was taken if there was a demonstrated need. He
felt speed bumps often served to divert traffic to other streets
and thus, problems may not be resolved but moved to other areas.
He also felt speed bumps encouraged speeding between the bumps.
The Mayor noted that the Halff study had suggested changing the
traffic pattern on Ocean Boulevard and East Coast Drive to one-way
only, and restriping to including bike lanes. He felt this was
something the city may wish to consider further.
Commissioner Weiss inquired whether the speed limits in Atlantic
Beach were realistic and whether the city had any control over the
amount of fines. Chief Thompson explained how the law regarding
speeding was enforced and he indicated that fines were set by the
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Minutes of Commission Workshop
March 23, 1994
State of Florida. He reported he hoped to increase the number of
reserve officers working for the police department and these
officers may help with traffic control.
The five-way stop sign at the Plaza/Seminole/Sherry intersection
was discussed and the question was asked whether a traffic signal
light should be installed and Chief Thompson felt the stop sign was
more effective than a signal light.
Discussion ensued regarding the speed bumps on Plaza and many of
the residents who were present indicated that the speed bumps had
been effective in reducing the speed. However, residents on Ninth
and Tenth Streets indicated that as a consequence of the speed
bumps on Plaza, traffic had increased on their streets. A
suggestion was made that speed bumps be installed on all the
east/west streets. However, Kirk Sanders felt that speed bumps
damaged cars and he was opposed to extensive use of speed bumps.
Russell Smith indicated there were a lot of children on the 1900
block of Selva Marina Drive. Traffic had increased due to Fleet
Landing and while he would like to have speed bumps installed, he
indicated his neighbors did not all share that feeling. Other
suggestions were made to deter speeding, including using cameras to
identify speeders, and parking police cars throughout the city.
Some residents asked whether there was anything they could do about
vehicles which they frequently observed speeding and Chief Thompson
suggested these people call the police station giving details of
repeated speeding and while the police could not issue citations on
that basis, they would caution the drivers. Commissioner Weiss
felt that citizens should be better informed about the speed limits
in Atlantic Beach and suggested that an article be placed in the
city newsletter.
Chuck West complained of the traffic on Levy Road. The road was in
poor condition with shoulders broken away and large trucks were
inclined to drive in the middle of the road. The City Manager
reported that the design work had been completed to improve Levy
Road but funds would be limited for another year and a half due to
the fact that most of the gas tax funds were pledged to retire
bonds. In the meantime, city crews would be instructed to repair
the shoulders of Levy Road and he agreed to call some of the
businesses in that area and ask that they caution their drivers.
Following further discussion, the Mayor asked whether anyone in the
audience would agree to serve on the parking study committee and
the following people volunteered:
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Minutes of Commission Workshop
March 23, 1994
Kevin Bodge, 349 Tenth Street
John and Belinda Owens, 328 Tenth Street
Patrick Clanton, 371 Plaza
Russell Smith, 1989 Selva Marina Drive
In discussion about parking, a question was asked regarding
designating additional parking spaces for permit parking and Chief
Thompson indicated 80 - 100 additional parking spaces had been
identified when the parking study committee biked throughout the
city. The City Manager indicated that the procedure for
designating additional permit parking spaces was provided in the
city code. Barbara Bonner inquired whether it was necessary to
charge $1 .00 to renew the parking sticker. She pointed out there
is no charge for the use of other city facilities and the parking
sticker fees were, therefore, being used to subsidize other
activities. It was suggested that a map indicating the location of
permit parking spaces be given out with parking decals. It was
also felt that a bike rack at Twentieth Street may encourage some
residents to ride bikes instead of driving cars to the beach.
There being no further discussion, the Mayor declared the meeting
adjourned.
Maureein King, City Clerl l