About Saint Augustine's Vilano Beach

At the North Shores Improvement Association meeting on Monday, November 10, 2008, Farid ("Fred") Ashdji presented his conceptual plans for a Wyndham Hotel in place of his Town and County Motel. It will feature a "new" art deco design, meaning he hopes future architects will emulate his design. He hired an interior decorator, too to ensure the interior has a French Art Deco décor to establish a warm feeling. He plans to break ground in 2009 with completion 18 months later. Below is a conceptual drawing. He will be changing the entrance.

All of the 72 rooms are nicely sized with 10' ceilings. They are located on the 2^nd and 3^rd floors of the hotel, and all will have balconies with views. All rooms have walk-in closets. Twenty of the rooms will have Jacuzzi's which will be located on the enclosed balconies. He has 3 suites planned. Two of the suites will be on the 2^nd floor at the front corner of the building (one will be 1,000 sq. ft. and the other 1800 sq. ft.). The 3^rd suite will be directly above the two on the 3^rd floor and will be 1800 sq. ft.

On the first floor he proposes to have 3 meeting rooms (one-2500 sq. ft., and two-1500 sq. ft.) with a total of 5500 sq. ft. There will be a restaurant on one side on the front and on the opposite side will be a breakfast area that will serve as a lounge at night. The first floor height will be 15'. Additionally he hopes to have a gift shop, exercise room, and business center. He is talking to a local gym to offer memberships to his exercise club for locals, which will include a sauna and steam room plus an indoor and outdoor pool. There will be a parking deck at the back of the building with the choice to go up or down. The two ramps are not connected.

The hotel will be "green" with solar-powered hot water and power. He hopes to recycle water from the shower to the toilets and harvest water from the roof for irrigation. He will use ozone to eliminate the need for hot water while doing laundry. He is also investigating a key that automatically shuts off all the room's lights upon departing.

He is not asking for any variances to the code, which is greatly appreciated by the community. It is a beautiful design in my opinion and I am hopeful for its completion as a wonderful addition to our community.

This is your friendly reminder that tomorrow, October 17th from 4-7:30 p.m at the Vilano Beach oceanfront pavilion will be a celebration of the completion of the streetscape. Please come and invite your friends as the public is invited. Dignitaries include Congressman Mica, St. Johns County commissioners and commissioners-elect, representatives from Callaway Contracting, RS&H Engineering, and others.

The Chamber Singers from the St. Johns Performing Arts Center, S. Augustine High School will be singing the National Anthem. Restaurants participating with samples are The Reef, Caps, Kingfish, Creekside and Crab Grabbers.

As President of the Friends of A1A, I am proud to announce that the International Coastal Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, September 20^th. This annual event, taking place in seventy-five countries around the globe, will see Friends of A1A doing a cleanup of the beach and dunes at Porpoise Point from 8AM until noon.

We will be at the beach access located at Porpoise Point Drive and Genoa Street. Call or e-mail me and I will send you directions if you need them.

There will be a number of trash ‘grabbers' available and ice water for all volunteers. You should wear closed shoes, gloves, and sun protection. An adult must accompany volunteers under sixteen.

Please join us and encourage your neighbors and friends to assist in keeping our community and beaches a wonderful and clean place. Please let me know if you are coming so I can let Bernie Gay, our Friends of A1A Volunteer Coordinator, know. Thanks!

Fact Sheet

The streetscape is complete in the Vilano Beach Town Center. So, that means a party, right? Right!

October 17, 2008 from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. at the Beach Pavilion on the beach end of Vilano Road, the community is invited to celebrate the completion of the road and streetscape improvements to the Vilano Beach Town Center. The Ribbon Cutting ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. with music and food from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

If you wish to help plan this event, please attend the next meeting on Wednesday, September 3 at 4 p.m. at the North Shores Improvement Association's building at 120 Meadow Avenue.

Please contact me if you would like to be a sponsor.

The community has much to celebrate. We look forward to seeing you on the 17^th of October!

At the intersection of Coastal Highway and Vilano Road a new Sea Turtle/Dolphin "roundabout" has been installed. I use the term "roundabout" as it is actually a driveover roundabout to enable emergency vehicles to get into the community. However, let's drive around it, okay? Let me know what you think. I think it's lovely.

UPDATE: The county has informed me that this is indeed a driveover and NOT a roundabout. Once the paving has occurred it will be obvious in that none of this area will then be raised. So, drive on over it.

June 27^th a.m. picture

June 27^th p.m. picture (cones removed):