Youth Soccer at a Crossroads: City Weighs Whether to Keep or Relocate Ybor Alvarez Fields
- Mike Lednovich
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
Fernandina Beach city commissioners again pondered the future of youth soccer and the long-uncertain fate of the Ybor Alvarez Sports Complex during a workshop last Tuesday, confronted by escalating land costs, complex FAA regulations, and a narrowing timeline to find a replacement home for more than 800 local players.
The 40-minute session — which ran over its scheduled time — laid bare the competing pressures shaping the decision: federal aviation requirements, sharply rising land appraisals, Nassau County’s pledged but time-limited funding, and the city’s struggle to identify 15 usable acres on an island where land is scarce and expensive.
Commissioners ended the session with consensus on three points:
they need more detailed financial analysis.
they want a town hall with youth sports organizations.
the issue will return for a dedicated workshop of its own.
Because of time limitations, youth soccer officials spoke of the urgent need for a decision to be reached when the city commission convened its regular meeting.
They described years of uncertainty, shrinking field access, and the looming possibility of cutting hundreds of children from the program if the city does not act soon.
Program president Scott Lomond told commissioners the organization has been “in limbo” since plans for a new facility “were on the books in March of 2024.” He said the soccer community’s prevailing emotions mirror the city’s broader frustration: “Trust and fear, and that is the feeling of our community in the soccer program.”
Lomond said the program now serves “just under 800 youth,” with “roughly 60% of them… in the 32034-zip code.”
Field shortages have forced games and practices across multiple sites: “We also use, right now, Nassau Crossing… and we use Hickory as well because we don’t have the space currently, particularly around the lighting,” Lomond said.
He warned that relying on the county’s developing complex is not realistic. “We don’t see as an organization that the county is an option,” he said, adding that he was told city teams could get “pushed off the fields out there from time to time.”
After years of waiting for a decision, Lomond urged commissioners to stop delaying: “For me, you know, ultimately, we need you guys to make a decision and move forward… Another month, we'll run out of time.”
Airport Manager Nathan Coyle began the workshop discussion with a deep review of the FAA deed restrictions governing the city airport property — rules that ultimately determine whether soccer and softball can remain at Ybor Alvarez.
He explained that when the federal government returned airport land to the city after World War II, it came with permanent obligations under the Surplus Property Act.
“Those federal obligations we're referring to go back to when we took the airport back from the federal government, when we got those deed-restricted obligations to the property,” he said.
Coyle emphasized repeatedly that the FAA requires fair-market compensation for any non-aviation use, and that long-term recreation facilities cannot be protected without either a formal lease or a full release of federal obligations.
Commissioner Genece Minshew summed up the community’s confusion: “All this stuff with the FAA and airport is very convoluted and weird, but it is what it is.”
The workshop reaffirmed that the city must address the federal obligations before improving or retaining the Ybor fields — and that failing to act opens the door to future aviation development on the property. As Coyle cautioned, any non-aviation use “should be at fair market value,” and past arrangements no longer apply.
The city’s most pressing challenge is financial. Capital Projects Manager Glenn Akramoff confirmed that the newly updated appraisal valued the 15.2-acre soccer/softball parcel at $3.5 million, up from last year’s $2.2 million estimate.
He explained that the appraisal reflects a significant increase in per-square-foot land value.
"Then we had an increase of 53%,” he said of the latest appraisal.
The fair-market lease value for the same acreage is now estimated at $315,000 a year — a steep climb from the days when the city paid $100,000 annually under a prior informal arrangement.
This mirrors reporting from an earlier Observer article, which noted the land appraisal had surged and that to keep the fields, “the city is required to buy or lease the property with the money going into the city's airport fund.”
The city is still eligible for Nassau County’s $1.7 million contribution for soccer fields, but the clock is ticking. Akramoff reminded commissioners: “That timeline is July of ’27 that we need to have construction done on a replacement at this site.”
That money can be used either to purchase Ybor Alvarez property or to help build fields elsewhere, but not both. Prior county correspondence stressed the funds must support relocating soccer fields because “the Board… is in full support of this joint project for the benefit of all of its citizens.”
Commissioners discussed the possibility of redirecting the funds to support expansion of the new county soccer complex in Yulee — an option outlined in past Observer stories and again during the workshop.
Akramoff and Parks Director Scott Mikelson presented four relocation or replacement paths, each with significant trade-offs:
1. Purchase the existing softball-field side and rebuild soccer fields on that section of Ybor Alvarez
Pros: Most familiar site; less long-term disruption; design concepts already completed.
Cons: High cost — purchase plus $2–2.5 million for construction. “Where do we get the money for all this?” Commissioner Tim Poynter asked. “It doesn't seem viable right now.”
2. Hickory Street Park (Interim Use Only)
Mikelson was candid about its limitations: “There is no existing lighting… parking is minimal… and the field sizes are not complete full-size fields.”
Commissioners agreed it cannot serve as a permanent home.
3. County Collaboration in Yulee
The Yulee Sports Complex offers significant space and room for expansion.
“It enables the entire organization to be together… but how do we bridge them from here to there?” Commissioner Joyce Tuten asked.
4. A 20-acre City-Owned Parcel Near the Airport
While promising on paper, a large portion sits in the runway protection zone and is not available for use.
“No property or persons in the RPZ,” Coyle reminded commissioners. “So, you would not…” allow fields or parking there.
Mayor James Antun said he agreed this site is “probably the most expensive option as well.”
The tract is also heavily wooded and was removed as a viable option.
City commissioners differed on whether to buy the land — but agreed that more study Is
required before a decision could be reached.
Three areas of concern dominated the commissioner comments:
— Financial Hesitation
“Buying back property from ourselves — it just doesn't even make sense.” said Commissioner Poynter, reiterating concerns first expressed in past workshops.
— The need for more analysis
Commissioner Minshew urged deeper study to “Take the top three… down another couple levels and come back with more specifics on money and timeframes and interest.”
— The need for community Input
Minshew said, “We need to start figuring out how to get that input into this process… so that the community can really understand what the financial implications are that we're up against.”
— A warning about the loss of recreation space
Vice Mayor Darron Ayscue delivered perhaps the most pointed warning.
“If we abandon that (Ybor Alvarez property), they're going to become hangars… that whole entire area is going to become concrete,” he said, adding that if the city does not protect the acreage now, “we're going to lose a 15-acre… piece of land.”
Commissioners acknowledged soccer’s rapid growth and the strain on facilities.
“We need to have a good understanding… of what does the demographic population look like in terms of growth… because my feeling is the majority of the growth is already off-island,” Minshew said.
Mayor James Antun closed the workshop with a summary of the emerging follow up items.
"We have consensus that we want more information, that we want a town hall, and we want this to come back for another workshop.” he said.
The city needs to reach a final decision early in 2026 to meet FAA and county deadlines.
800 youth soccer players in the 32034 area code. How many in the city? Why is youth sports always a Fernandina Beach issue? What wrong with the county. If they don't have their own soccer fields, charge the kids extra for developing and maintaining the fields. As a city taxpayer, I'm disgusted that we pay for all the areas recreational facilities when the county has many more taxpayers and money. We pay county taxes too!