ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — In downtown St. Augustine, you will certainly see tour trolleys, historic architecture, and people who have no homes.
Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline said during a city commission meeting Monday that homelessness is "a very important, prominent problem in our downtown. One of them. Probably the most visible problem at the moment."
Monday night the city commission voted to swap a piece of land it owns on Anastasia Island, just east of the 312 Bridge for a piece of land at the corner of State Road 207 and Old Dixie Highway. It’s behind the Winn Dixie shopping plaza. The nearly 2-acre parcel is where a furniture store sits empty. The land had been owned by a Jacksonville-based company.
City Manager said the land on 207 and Old Dixie is within "easy walking and biking distance of downtown."
The city commission approved the land swap with the idea of building a homeless drop-in day center on it. It would provide much-needed services that are hard for homeless in St. Johns County to find right now such as "laundry, showers, mail,” Birchim noted.
They are necessary things that help people be job-ready.
The drop-in center could offer relief on scorching summer days as well as job assistance and health services.
Right now, a program called Dining with Dignity provides food for homeless and those in poverty every evening in downtown St. Augustine. That could service could also shift to this new location according to Birchim.
The city-owned land on Anastasia Island was appraised at $1.8 million, Birchim said. He noted that the land closer to downtown was appraised at $1.2 million.
He added, "That did not take into consideration that our property was part of a landfill, and whoever purchased the property would have to expend money before they developed it.
St. Augustine city leaders unanimously approved the land swap to make way for a homeless services center.
