JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — On sunny spring and summer days in Jacksonville Beach, it’s no surprise that a lot of people would opt to sit outside to grab drinks or a bite to eat. But the options to do so are surprisingly slim, at least if you want to sit along the sidewalk.
Only two restaurants in Jax Beach, the side-by-side Jekyll Brewing and Oaxaca Club on 2nd Avenue North, actually have permits from the city to have seats and tables on the sidewalk. But the Jacksonville Beach City Council wants to add more restaurants to that little list.
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The city’s plan calls to allow for sidewalk seating at restaurants on these streets:
- 2nd Avenue North, Between 1st and 2nd Streets North
- 3rd Avenue North, Between 1st and 2nd Streets North
- 4th Avenue North, Between 1st and 2nd Streets North
- 5th Avenue North, Between 1st and 2nd Streets North
- 6th Avenue North, Between 1st and 2nd Streets North
Some restaurants that would be able to apply for seats on the sidewalk, like V Pizza on 1st Street, say the opportunity is long overdue for restaurants at the beach.
“We go to Miami, we go to other cities, they all have outside seating. So why not Jax Beach, you know?” Florjan Murataj, general manager of V Pizza, said.
V Pizza doesn’t have much room in front of its Jax Beach store to place seats on the sidewalk but said it still wants to apply for them if the city’s plan is approved. V Pizza tells Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin it tried to apply for sidewalk seating 10 years ago but was denied.
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“If we could put out a couple of chairs, that would be great,” Murataj said.
There are only a few restaurants that would be able to apply for sidewalk seating if the plan passes, including:
- V Pizza at 1st Street North and 5th Avenue North
- O-Ku at 1st Street North and 4th Avenue North
- Lynch’s Irish Pub on 1st Street North
- Surfer [The Bar] at 1st Street North and 2nd Avenue North
- The Ritz at 2nd Street North and 3rd Avenue North
For the restaurants that actually have seats on the sidewalk, they think the city should try another approach.
“The city should see what the actual locations are and what the actual needs of the restaurants in the plan are,” Eddy Escriba, general manager of the Oaxaca Club, said.
Escriba wants the city to consider a plan that allows restaurants to apply for seats on the sidewalk on an as-needed basis, rather than simply expanding the program by a few streets. But he still wants more restaurants to have the opportunity, regardless of where they are.
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“I think it would be a benefit for all businesses in Jax Beach,” Escriba said, “Any improvement to bring more people to the beaches and any improvement to bring more foot traffic is a plus.”
Action News Jax reached out to Jax Beach Mayor Chris Hoffman to learn more about the plan. Hoffman said the city isn’t allowed to comment on a plan that the council is considering for a vote before that vote is made.
The City Council approved the plan on its first reading on Monday night. There will be another reading of it on Monday, Dec. 16.
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