With few exceptions, all temporary parking on Ponte Vedra Boulevard will soon be prohibited and violators will be ticketed if the Board of County Commissioners approves proposed changes to an existing ordinance.
The change has long been a topic of discussion between the county and the Ponte Vedra Beach Municipal Service District Board of Trustees. Motorists traversing the boulevard have been frustrated by the number of lawn maintenance trucks and trailers and construction-related vehicles clogging the road and creating safety issues.
“Every single day, even Saturdays, you’ve got anywhere from 10 to 15 different landscape companies up and down the boulevard parked there,” said Board of Trustees Chair Brad Wester.
Wester addressed the topic during the board’s monthly meeting Monday, Jan. 11.
The existing ordinance prohibits most parking on the boulevard, but a loophole allows brief periods of parking for some oversized vehicles. This allows violators to skirt the intent of the ordinance by frequently moving their vehicles five feet, thus resetting their time at that locale.
The proposed change still allows temporary parking for utility and government trucks, police and fire rescue. Furniture delivery and moving vans will be able to park by permit. Lawn maintenance and similar trucks and trailers will have to be pulled into driveways.
Wester said he expects the proposals to come before the County Commission in March or April and then to be approved by May. The change would go into effect immediately.
“It’s long overdue,” Wester said.
