Carriage ordinance may be adopted tomorrow

Historic City News will be watching as a public hearing and final action on the long-discussed and tweaked horse carriage ordinance leads off the Monday night city commission meeting.

With two of the city’s five commissioners absent two weeks ago, the scheduled public hearing and final action on a horse carriage ordinance was tabled until Monday and, as promised to a roomful of potential speakers, it’s first on the agenda.

The ordinance proposes a limit of 30 horse carriage permits, issued with franchises and fees of $1,000/each or 2.5 percent of gross annual revenue, whichever is greater.

City officials documented more than $20,000 a year in horse carriage-related city expenses to justify those fees.

If you are planning to attend — the regular St. Augustine City Commission meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. Monday and will be held in the Alcazar Room; on the first floor of City Hall, located at 75 King Street in St. Augustine. It will be broadcast live on Comcast Government TV (Cable Channel 3) and is streamed over the Internet.