The Jacksonville Port Authority is about to relaunch the hotly contested question of whether it should build a cruise ship
terminal in Mayport.
JaxPort Board Chairman David Kulik said Friday the time is right to reopen the cruise terminal study, which the board halted
in March 2009 amid concerns about the global recession hurting the port's expansion of cargo business.
The Port Authority spent about $12 million on land and other costs at Mayport. But its plan for a terminal faced opposition
from residents who said a cruise terminal and parking garage would overwhelm the character of the fishing village.
Gary Crumley, chairman of the Mayport Waterfront Partnership, says he's amenable to discussions with JaxPort.
"We'd like to be able to cooperate in developing a viable solution," Crumley said, "but we've got to be sensitive to the
people who live in this community."
In addition to Mayport, the study will examine two other potential sites over the next two months.
Kulik declined to
identify the other sites except to say that like Mayport, they would enable larger cruise ships to call on Jacksonville because
the locations are east of the Dames Point bridge and JEA power lines spanning the St. Johns River.
"Mayport is still an extremely viable location," he said.
The Port Authority's board members will discuss Monday how to move forward with the cruise business. If the board decided
to build in Mayport, the Jacksonville City Council's approval would be needed.
Warren Anderson Jr., an attorney with the Public Trust Environmental Law Institute, who sued the city over plans for a
Mayport terminal, said he's encouraged by JaxPort's request for transparent dialogue.
"I'm anxious to be part of the discussion," Anderson said.
In the year since the board called a timeout on a new cruise terminal, Charleston, S.C., signed a deal for year-round Carnival
cruises, and Savannah, Ga., formed a task force for becoming a cruise homeport. Savannah Alderman Tony Thomas said March 19
that city leaders have a "tremendous amount of momentum rolling forward" and he would welcome the Fascination in Savannah
if it stops sailing from Jacksonville.
Kulik said the decision to restart JaxPort's study isn't a response specifically to Savannah. He said JaxPort officials
are aware that several Southeast cities would welcome a cruise ship.
"That's always been a threat as far as we're concerned," he said.
Carnival Cruise Lines and its Fascination ship sail out of Jacksonville from a port-owned terminal west of the Dames Point
bridge, off Heckscher Drive. That terminal is on land slated to become a cargo terminal for Hanjin Shipping, a major global
shipper that carries cargo between Asia and the United States.
Construction of the cargo terminal will require demolishing the cruise building, so the Port Authority must find another
site for Jacksonville to remain a cruise homeport. They have focused on sites east of the Dames Point bridge because the bridge
isn't high enough for passage by cruise ships bigger than the Fascination.
Crumley says Mayport residents are open to discussions about a possible terminal, but that maintaining an open waterfront
is crucial.
Kulik said the sold-out Fascination voyages have proven Jacksonville can support cruises. He said the JaxPort board told
staff to stop consideration of the Mayport site because the Port Authority needed to focus its attention on pursuing cargo
business and moving forward on the Hanjin venture.
"Last year at this time, we were in a deep hole from a global economic standpoint, and now we're coming out of it," he
said.
He said Hanjin and the International Longshoremen's Association are making progress in talks for a labor contract. In December,
the board postponed selecting a firm to design Hanjin's terminal until there is basic agreement between the company and the
union over terms of a contract.
david.bauerlein@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4581
abel.harding@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4184
