FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – The Fernandina Beach City Commission is a step closer to limiting parking on the beach to four-wheel drive vehicles only. The first vote passed April 2. The commission has to vote a second and final time to make it official, and some beachgoers are not too happy about the plan.
Fernandina Beach is one of the few local beaches where you can drive on the beach and park your vehicle to enjoy the sand and surf.
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While many vehicles on the beach Saturday were four-wheel drive, some were not, and soon, those cars could be banned from parking on Fernandina Beach.
"It just seems like they’re trying to take the fun out of everything they get their hands on," said beachgoer David Bolden.
Bolden disagrees with the plan to restrict beach driving, even though he has a four-wheel drive vehicle.
Some beachgoers say it’s not the vehicle that's the problem, it's the driver. Seeing a Jeep stuck in the sand is common at the beach.
When vehicles get stuck, digging them out of the sand does a lot of damage to the beach.
"They didn’t have a giant sign up before, and it’s gotten a little bit better since I put those up. Some of the things that we’ve seen, as people who have been to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, the beach is firmer there. They’re able to drive in those cars, so they assume they can do the same here," beachgoer Nelson North said.
North says one problem with limiting beach parking to just four- wheel drive is that regular parking at the Seaside Access is scarce as it is.
"There’s not a lot at this beach. The access point is as far as other parking off the beach, so, it would really limit access to this beach if it was restricted," North said.
The ordinance will prohibit parking on the beach at the Sadler Road Beach Access between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.