Neptune Beach considers moving City Hall

Police department building also under consideration for major move

NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. – A big change could be coming in Neptune Beach.

Mayor Elaine Brown said the city is in the fact-finding stages of trying to determine if it should sell City Hall and the Public Safety building from the main business district and move those personnel somewhere else.

The Public Safety Building is home to the Neptune Beach Police Department.

For years, it and City Hall have been in the heart of restaurants and other shops known as the Beaches Town Center.

It's prime real estate, and Brown wants to know if it might be better used as something else that would drive revenue for the city.

"Getting that out of probably some of the hottest property for retail would be something we would really take a serious look at," Brown said.

Brown said there are multiple reasons for the change. For one, those buildings currently aren’t on the tax roll. She said that would change if other businesses moved in.

She also said it could solve a growing problem.

"We would be looking at how we can enhance parking," Brown said. "Somebody that would come in, they would have to give us a plan to show us how they would deal with parking."

For the most part, business owners are in favor of a potential move.

"I think it would be a great idea for the city," said Tiffany Layton Oliser, owner of Jax Surf and Paddle. "I think the community would love it. And I think it would be more fun. We could actually have some businesses to help out the local community and add more things to do in the Beaches Town Center." 

Brown said the city has already looked at some buildings on Third Street with easier access for the public, and also looked at the possibility of combining the two into one building.

But the process is still in the early stages, and any move wouldn’t happen for quite some time.