ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Chairs were set up in a large circle Thursday afternoon in a meeting room at St. Augustine’s City Hall. 

City leaders presented possible solutions they’ve created for improving traffic and parking during the next Nights of Lights. 

Business leaders sat in the chairs, listening and also giving their two cents about the holiday event. 

“I’ve spent 15 years in the tourism industry and have conducted every type of tour imaginable,” shared Aaron Jockers, the co-owner of The St. Augustine Transfer Company, which offers various tours in downtown St. Augustine.

The recent Nights of Lights event drew an overwhelming number of vehicles and visitors to the quaint town, leading to congested streets, delayed emergency response times, and preventing residents from easily exiting their neighborhoods.

Jockers expressed a desire for improved crowd management efforts. “It’s important to have personnel dedicated to monitoring traffic, maintaining restrooms more efficiently, and managing trash cans, lighting, and similar necessities.”

He and other business leaders shared those concerns with St. Augustine city leaders.  Those city leaders have been working to iron out the major wrinkles in the twinkling light event.

City Manager David Birchim said, “The goal here to improve the quality of commerce for the businesses and to improve the quality of life for the residents during this event.”

This was is the fourth of 5 community meetings to present solutions and collect more ideas.

“We’ll consolidate all of  their feedback into our final report that we give to our city commission,” Birchim said.

Some ideas the city is considering include creating a shuttle-only lane on San Marco Avenue so shuttles don’t get stuck in traffic, creating residential-only parking spaces in neighborhoods so visitors won’t clog up neighborhood streets looking for a place to park, and placing officers at intersections to keep traffic moving smoothly.

As for Jockers, he said these plans aren’t just good for Nights of Lights but for a growing county and city.

“Everyone’s got to really decide what kind of Saint Augustine, what kind of Saint Johns County we want going forward. So it’s very important that we all work together,” he said. 

The next community meeting is scheduled for all residential and business stakeholders on Tuesday, June 10, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., for anyone who is unable to attend the May daytime meetings. The meeting will be held in a town hall format in The Alcazar Room of City Hall, located at 75 King Street.