Oceanway residents voice opposition to proposed Chick-Fil-A

Photo from Thursday night meeting. (News4JAX.com)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Residents of Jacksonville’s Oceanway neighborhood attended a meeting Thursday night, pushing back against plans to build a new Chick-Fil-A in the area.

The proposed location is across the street from First Coast High School, near the entrance of the North Creek subdivision. The piece of land was rezoned for fast food back in 2016 and was originally supposed to be a McDonald’s.

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On Thursday, residents met for a town hall led by Councilman Reggie Gaffney, Jr.

Much of the room applauded when the crowd was told the city is denying Chick-Fil-A’s request to build. But residents say the land battle isn’t over yet.

“Our whole neighborhood was really worried about the traffic, especially the safety, especially across from the high school, our property values — and, you know, we’ll be optimistic,” said Christine Brundage, an Oceanway resident. “Like the councilman said, we are still concerned. They can still come back, they can ask for rezoning. So we’re not going to give up, we’re going to stay on top of this and make sure our neighborhood is heard.”

Gaffney says the current zoning only allows for one drive-thru lane, which would not work with Chick-Fil-A’s two-lane design.