JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to grant the Otis Landfill to obtain its initial certificate to operate.
Some Westside homeowners were trying to fight the proposed landfill that a developer wants to build next to their homes.
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There are three other landfills on that side of town at Trail Ridge, on Jones Road and on Old Kings Road.
The proposed landfill will be built along Otis Road, not far from the others.
"You see today the winds coming from that way, so everybody would be affected by it," homeowner Darryl Parrish said. "One hundred yards from my property line, no way."
Homeowners like Parrish and Jim Dimattia don't want another landfill as their new neighbor, and the loud trucks, trash and smell that come with it.
Dimattia is worried a landfill will hurt what he's worked so hard for.
"It's ridiculous. The trucks are going to be coming in and out of here all day," he said. "It's going to knock the property values down."
Residents on the Westside said there's already enough landfills out there. The proposed landfill would be 10 miles away from the Trail Ridge Landfill, nine miles from the one on Old Kings Road and six miles from the one on Jones Road.
The landfill developer, J.B. Coxwell, argues Jacksonville is about to run out room for its trash. Coxwell, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday, has said there's just 10 years of life left in the Jones and Old Kings landfills.
But homeowners who started a group called The Better Westside Project say their math shows 33 years of life left in the landfills.
Either way, no one around there wants a trash dump in their back yard.
"We all came out here to relax, and this isn't exactly a relaxing situation here," Dimattia said.