New Court Filing Aims to Stop Paid Parking in Historic Downtown Fernandina Beach

Opponents of paid parking in Fernandina Beach’s historic downtown have filed a new injunction request in Nassau County Circuit Court, asking Judge Marianne Aho to block the city from implementing and enforcing the recently adopted paid parking program.

The filing was submitted Jan. 23 by the political action committee Paid Parking and its treasurer, MacDonald “Mac” Morriss, is seeking a temporary injunction that would stop the city from moving forward with enforcement while broader legal challenges to the program continue.

The motion follows the City Commission’s Jan. 7 adoption of Ordinances 2025-13 and 2025-14, which authorized implementation of paid parking in the city’s designated downtown “Red Zone” and approved an agreement with private vendor One Parking, Inc. The city has announced that paid parking is scheduled to begin Feb. 16, with permit sales opening earlier this month.

In the 18-page filing, plaintiffs argue that allowing the program to proceed before pending legal questions are resolved would cause “irreparable harm” to residents, business owners, churches, and referendum supporters. The motion asks the court to preserve the status quo until the court rules on a related request for declaratory relief.

Among the claims raised in the amended motion are allegations that the paid parking program violates state and federal constitutional protections related to religious freedom, improperly advances land-use regulations during a statutory post-hurricane moratorium, and undermines voters’ right to decide the issue through a citywide referendum scheduled for August.

The plaintiffs contend that paid parking will burden churches located within the Red Zone by requiring congregants to pay to attend services or find alternative transportation, an argument raised under Florida’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The filing also asserts that implementing paid parking before the referendum could render the vote meaningless by locking the city into a multi-year agreement with a private parking operator.

City officials have previously rejected those arguments, maintaining that the commission acted within its legislative authority. City officials have said the paid parking program is needed to generate revenue for the renovation, maintenance, and long-term upkeep of Fernandina Beach’s historic downtown, which attracts more than one million visitors each year.

In earlier court filings, the city has argued that opponents are attempting to block a duly enacted ordinance through litigation rather than the ballot box.

This is not the first attempt by paid-parking opponents to obtain injunctive relief. Earlier this month, a Nassau County judge dismissed a prior injunction request, finding that the claims were not ripe or justiciable at that stage. The new filing attempts to cure those deficiencies by pointing to the city’s adoption of the ordinances and its stated enforcement timeline.

The city has not yet filed a response to the latest motion. A hearing date has not been set.

Paid parking has been one of the most contentious issues before the Fernandina Beach City Commission in recent years. In September, opponents submitted more than 1,700 signatures in support of a referendum seeking to overturn the program. While the petition was certified by the city clerk, the commission voted in November to proceed with implementation while allowing the referendum to move forward.

If approved by voters in August, the referendum would prohibit the city from operating paid parking or installing paid parking devices without voter approval.