JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A proposed plan to bring a new Chick-fil-A restaurant to the Oceanway neighborhood is causing a stir among residents. Not all of them are happy about it.
Tensions were high as residents packed the Oceanway Community Center Thursday night to discuss their frustration and concerns with the possible development.
During the meeting, a lawyer working with the property owner explained that the land was originally zoned in 2008 for a McDonald’s, but Chick-fil-A wants to update that plan to include 64 parking spaces instead of the original 35 and expand the capacity for the drive-thru from 14 to 34 cars.
We’ve all seen how busy a Chick-fil-A restaurant can get on any given day (except on Sundays, of course). That’s precisely why some in Oceanway are against one being built directly across from First Coast High School.
A woman named Cindy told News4JAX she’s lived in the area for decades and has seen the fast development. With heavy traffic in the area, Cindy says her main concern is the safety of the students across the street.
“They’ll be running across the street, and it’ll cause more accidents,” Cindy said. “They need a red light, really, for that area so the kids can go across. But they just go zoom on by.”
Rowland Thagard Jr. serves as the HOA vice president for the North Creek Subdivision and he said he’s also concerned about the high amount of traffic and other issues.
“The main thing is you have outside personnel that’s visiting the restaurant entering into the neighborhood. We feel that the crime rate will rise, and we feel that it’s going to be a high volume of trash around the neighborhood. We take pride in the North Creek.,” Thagard said.
But the traffic and safety worries are just the beginning for some residents.
Plans for the proposal show Chick-fil-A customers would get to the restaurant using Lady Lake Road, within the North Creek subdivision. North Creek’s entrance is directly adjacent to where the restaurant would be built. This means customers would either walk or drive through the neighborhood to get to the restaurant.
“They want to use our entrance, that in itself is bad. The safety of the kids from the school going across the street is bad, and the traffic will be a nightmare. I’ve said it 100 times, I don’t know how else to say it, it’s just not a good idea,” Roberta Smith said.
If this story sounds familiar, it’s because the property owner tried to bring the Chick-fil-A to this location last year, but it was denied.
Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr. was front and center during that initial proposal and that was no different on Thursday night.
He told News4JAX he was surprised to hear the property owner is trying again. Now that the proposal has come up for a second time, he said constituents are reaching out to him.
“I have gotten numerous calls. I have gotten at least 10 or 15 calls, and they’re quite concerned,” Gaffney said. “They pretty much call me every day worrying about their home values. They asked me about potential people coming in the neighborhood, maybe loitering and littering, throwing out trash, and their neighborhood traffic and congestion.”
“There’s power in numbers. I think if the community can come out and convince my colleagues then they have a great chance of overcoming this legislation,” Gaffney told News4JAX at the meeting.
That’s exactly what Thagard said he plans to do.
“We’re going to gather, and we’re going to take the fight to them. We’re going to make sure that we stop the project. We don’t want the Chick-fil-A there, high volume traffic, the kids safety is our number one concern,” he said.
Gaffney said a woman who has lived in the area for about 18 years told him that if Chick-fil-A builds in that location, she would sell her home.
As of now, the lot sits vacant. Signs posted nearby highlight what’s happening behind the scenes. Some people, including Belinda Nash, question if a Chick-fil-A is even needed in that location.
“I believe we have one that is not far from here in (the) River City (Marketplace), so that’s pretty close,” Nash said. “I’m not against it either, but I do know the one at River City does have a lot of traffic.”
Gaffney has scheduled a community meeting to discuss the proposed Chick-fil-A restaurant, similar to one he held last year. He said he wants people to hear from those on all sides, and he’s expecting a sizable turnout.
“I want to see if they have a change of heart,” Gaffney said. “Or if they still have the same thought process.”
In the coming weeks, the city itself is expected to take a closer look at the proposal.