A controversial zoning change in San Marco took center stage at Tuesday night’s Jacksonville City Council meeting.
A developer wanted to build a self-storage facility at the intersection of Prudential Drive and Hendricks Avenue, but several neighbors spoke out against the project and said a storage facility would be out of place and ruin the neighborhood’s charm and walkability.
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After more than four hours of back-and-forth discussion, the council was deadlocked in voting, 9 to 9, which effectively denied the zoning change, per council rules.
A spokesperson for the developer defended the plan and said he tried to compromise by reducing the amount of storage space. He also floated the idea of adding a rooftop bar to make the plan more appealing to residents and visitors.
The proposal would have rezoned an acre at the corner of Prudential Drive and Hendricks Avenue from a commercial central business district to a planned unit development district. That would have opened the door for a five-story storage unit facility that would have included some ground-floor space for businesses and restaurants.
The project has been getting pushback since it was first proposed earlier this year.