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St. Johns County, Florida

Metal Detecting at Lighthouse Park & J. Edward "Red" Cox Recreation Facility in St. Augustine, Florida

ProhibitedGrade A · 100/100 · Verified

The City of St. Augustine does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property. This record is limited to a location whose City ownership/control has been independently supported.

Answer first

Can you metal detect at Lighthouse Park & J. Edward "Red" Cox Recreation Facility?

Prohibited. The City of St. Augustine does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property. This record is limited to a location whose City ownership/control has been independently supported.

Permit/authorization: No — The City states that it does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property.

Evidence freshness: verified , Grade A, confidence 100/100. Recheck the official source before travel.

Managing agencyCity of St. Augustine
PermitNo
JurisdictionCity
Location typeCity-owned waterfront park / boat-ramp recreation facility
Rule basisVerified controlling rule

Current verified decision

What the current evidence actually allows

Decision resolved
Detector useProhibited
Ground disturbanceSeparate digging rule applies
Recovery feasibilityRecreational detecting/recovery not available under current controlling rule
Permission inferenceNo permission inferred
Legal precisionExpress detector-use prohibition or equivalent no-detecting rule
Permission ceilingNone — recreational detector use is prohibited under the current controlling rule
Trip block / prerequisiteCurrent controlling rule expressly blocks recreational detector use
Planning stateChoose Legal Alternative
Jurisdiction scopeControlling Rule Scope Stored
Proof required before tripNo
Water jurisdictionSeparate jurisdiction / boundary analysis required
Historic / recoveryProtected-resource restrictions apply
Scope guardrail: Do not treat public access, passes, recreation listings or open hours as an exception to the express detector prohibition.
Jurisdiction scope note: Apply the stored controlling rule only within its stated jurisdiction/property scope and honor any narrower site-specific overlay.
Scope gate: Confirm the property is within the scope of the express prohibition; do not infer exceptions from public access.
Authorization pathway: No recreational detector-use pathway is established under the controlling prohibition unless the authoritative rule itself provides a specific exception.
Proof before travel: Do not travel to detect based on general access. Use a verified legal alternative.
Next action: Do not recreationally metal detect on the managed property. Use a verified legal alternative rather than treating public access as permission.

Evidence: Grade A · 100/100 · verified 2026-08-11 · freshness Current · revalidation due 2026-12-09 · source conflict none identified.

Map and public access reference

This record has a safe map query. Resolve it on demand to display a temporary provider search match without altering the verified dataset.

Map coverage modeSensitive-site safe public reference map search
Navigation queryCity of St. Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida
Map verificationQuery navigation — no invented coordinate

The map always renders with state/local context. Use Resolve this place on map to place a temporary provider search match on the map, or use the provider buttons directly. The temporary match is not written into the verified-coordinate dataset.

Sensitive-site protection: navigation deliberately uses a broader managing-agency/locality reference rather than publishing an archaeological, artifact, historic-resource, or detecting-target locator.

Legal status and controlling rule

The City of St. Augustine does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property. This record is limited to a location whose City ownership/control has been independently supported.

Restricted or prohibited areas

Entire City-owned property; no recreational metal-detecting area is established by the City rule.

Permit and digging rules

Permit: No

The City states that it does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property.

Digging: No metal-detecting excavation or artifact recovery on City-owned property.

Water and artifact rules

Water detecting: No water-detecting permission is inferred. Water or submerged areas outside the City-owned parcel require separate jurisdiction verification.

Historic/artifact rule: Except for recent loss, artifacts and items on the surface or buried on City property are in public ownership; archaeological and historic resources must not be disturbed.

Verification record

This page is published only after its legal and access evidence passes the project verification checks. Its current legal/access record is Grade A with a confidence score of 100/100 and was last checked on .

Map policy: every record has an in-page map plus external map-provider navigation. Verified pins remain canonical; query-only records can create a temporary provider search marker on demand, which is never promoted to verified geometry automatically. No map mode proves permission.

Official legal and place sources

Lighthouse Park & J. Edward "Red" Cox Recreation Facility metal detecting FAQ

Can you metal detect at Lighthouse Park & J. Edward "Red" Cox Recreation Facility?

The City of St. Augustine does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property. This record is limited to a location whose City ownership/control has been independently supported.

Is a permit or authorization required at Lighthouse Park & J. Edward "Red" Cox Recreation Facility?

No The City states that it does not issue permits or allow metal detecting or excavation for artifacts on City-owned property.

Does the map show where detecting is legally allowed?

Yes. The page provides map context and a deliberately broader agency/locality navigation target while withholding an exact sensitive-site locator. This does not change the written legal status.

How current is this Lighthouse Park & J. Edward "Red" Cox Recreation Facility record?

The legal/access record was last verified on 2026-08-11 with verification grade A and confidence score 100/100. Recheck the cited official source before travel because rules and closures can change.

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