One battle over beach driving ends in Nassau County but another one is just beginning

American Beach in Nassau County will remain one of the few places along Florida's coast where people can drive on the beach after a group of residents fell short of closing it to motor vehicles.

A federal judge on Sept. 22 dismissed a lawsuit filed by Save Historic American Beach after the non-profit organization and the county signed off on a settlement agreement that makes some changes to beach driving but still allows it where the sandy coastline runs alongside the historic community.

"We got some improvements in terms of controls and restrictions, but we still think the end objective is to end beach driving," said Mark Dawkins, chairman of the organization.

But even as Nassau County was able to close that lawsuit on beach driving by reaching a settlement, it could soon face another round of litigation by residents on the south end of Amelia Island. They were stunned to see the county remove signs last month that had marked about 1.2 miles of beach off-limits to motor vehicles for the past 21 years.

"People were shocked," said Corky Hoffman, who lives in The Sanctuary residential development.

The two sections of beach on the south end of the island and American Beach are separated by a long no-driving in the area of Amelia Island Plantation. In both sections of beach, residents don't think motor vehicles mix safely with beachgoers enjoying the county's sandy coastline.

County commissioners have been trying strike a balance between those concerns and continuing the long tradition of beachgoers having places where they can drive on the beach and pick their spots to park, whether it's for fishing or sunbathing.

Dawkins said he hopes residents along the south end of the island will join American Beach in calling for an end to driving on beach areas that have residential communities behind them.

"We're all similarly situated," he said. "We're residential communities. They're driving behind our community, they're driving behind their community."

American Beach lawsuit focused on protecting nesting turtles

Save Historic American Beach had sought an injunction against driving on the beach on grounds that automobiles pose a danger to nesting sea turtles protected by the Endangered Species Act.

After Save Historic American Beach filed the lawsuit in federal court on April 29, Senior Judge Timothy Corrigan denied a preliminary injunction on June 27 and referred the organization and the county to mediation on July 15.

On Aug. 11, the Nassau County Commission approved a protected species management plan adding more safeguards for sea turtles. The county and Save Historic American Beach then met Aug. 15 with a mediator.

Provisions in the mediated settlement include creating a 10-foot wide conservation zone on the ocean side of the sand dunes. Signs saying "Conservation Zone Do Not Enter" will mark out that area.

The county also will work to relocate the entryway to American Beach that currently takes vehicles onto the beach via Lewis Street, which runs through the middle of the American Beach community.

Dawkins said the current cut through the sand dunes for vehicle access also leaves a big opening for storm surge to push water from the ocean into the neighborhood. Moving the entry would allow the build-up of home-protecting dunes against flooding, Dawkins said.

American Beach resident Mark Dawkins, chairman of Save Historic American Beach, speaks on April 4, 2025 about why residents want driving to end on the beach that's behind the historic residential community in Nassau County.

The county would move the entry way to nearby county-owned Burnley Park.

The settlement agreement also has a provision related to beach driving on the southern end of the island, which has residents there up in arms.

County changes ban on beach driving on south end of island

At the Aug. 11 county commission meeting, commissioners passed a map that shows four places where beach driving is allowed: American Beach, Peters Point, the end of Scott Road and the south end of the island. The county's map shows the beach-driving zones are based on a state law and county ordinance from 1989 and a final court judgment entered in 1992.

That state law and judgment have long banned driving on two portions of county-controlled beach where the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island resort and the Omni Amelia Island Resort are located.

But in 2004, the county placed a sign that declared the "No Motor Vehicles" allowed on the south end of the island. That meant that when drivers went onto the beach at Amelia Island State Park, which allows vehicles, and reached the northeast boundary of the park, they saw a sign that they couldn't keep driving on the 1.2 miles of county-managed beach between the state park and the no-drive zone for Amelia Island Plantation.

The county removed that sign after commissioners approved the map on Aug. 11 so vehicles can now use that section of the beach as well.

Hoffman said that switch upended the understanding that residents of Sanctuary, Amelia Retreat and The Residence have had about what's allowed on the beach.

"A lot of people have people have bought and added to their property over the last 21 years relying on that sign and the fact there's no beach driving and their kids could play safely out on the beach," he said.

Owen Jarrett, a Giddens Security officer, left, explains to Nathan Hodges, right, how to conduct himself when driving on the beach area Monday September 22, 2025. The new signage was installed around the middle of August 2025 to let motorist know that Nassau County residents can drive at the South end beach, just south of the Amelia Island Plantation in Fernindina Beach, Fla. and north of the Amelia Island State Park. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]

He notes that according to minutes of the Nassau County meeting in November 2004, commissioners unanimously voted to direct placement of the no-driving sign in a location the county administator "deems necessary for safety reasons."

"They said in the minutes that it was done for safety, which is obviously why this is outlawed in almost all parts of the state," Hoffman said.

He said the final court judgment in 1992 allows the county to ban driving on the south end of the island and residents are prepared to go to court to make the beach off-limits to vehicles again.

American Beach doesn't want to be "sacrificial lamb" on beach driving

Dawkins said if the county closes the south end of the island to vehicles, it should do the same at American Beach.

He said American Beach was cut out of the decision-making process 35 years ago that left it as a "sacrificial lamb" for retaining the option of beach driving while areas for the big resorts, located on either side of American Beach, came no-driving zones.

He said filing the lawsuit finally got American Beach at place at the table and going forward, the county needs to treat American Beach fairly. He notes it was the first resort in Nassau County when it was one of the few beaches open to Black beachgoers during the segregation era.

He said he favors the county ending driving on all the beaches it controls that flank residential neighborhoods.

"If you're going to stop it in any of these communities, you need to stop it in all of these communities," he said. "That's our position."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: One battle over beach driving ends in Nassau County but another one is just beginning