St. Augustine’s horse carriage operators will be prohibited from using the city’s signature span during an upcoming construction project, officials revealed this week.
Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline said at a Monday City Commission meeting that the carriages will not be able to trot along Avenida Menendez during the Florida Department of Transportation’s seawall project slated to begin later this year.
“When the DOT does the seawall we have to move the horse carriages off the bay front,” City Manager David Birchim confirmed at the meeting.
The scenic stretch has served as vital territory for Old City horse carriage operators for well over a century.
Their ostensibly temporary removal comes amid a growing dispute over the industry in St. Augustine, as anti-carriage activists have increased their presence at City Commission meetings.
Several speakers reiterated their opposition to the practice on Monday, with some presenting pictures of local carriage horses they said were being kept in substandard conditions.
A recent petition calling for restrictions on the industry in St. Augustine was launched last month and has drawn roughly 500 signatories. Their locations are not specified on the site.
Others spoke in favor of carriage drivers at Monday’s, asserting that they provide painstaking and proper care for their animals.
Sikes-Kline indicated that the issue will revisited down the line, while vice mayor Barbara Blonder also said she planned to closely monitor the flashpoint issue moving forward.
The $45 million seawall project — expected to take roughly a year to complete — will replace the existing infrastructure along the Matanzas River to bolster storm protection and improve pedestrian safety.
