JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A proposed affordable housing complex on the Northside was met with hours of opposition from concerned residents after the Land Use and Zoning Committee voted to approve the rezoning on Tuesday.
It was a heated hour-long meeting at city hall as residents were unhappy with how the committee voted on legislation to move forward.
If approved, the new complex would be built along Biscayne Boulevard near Mar Vic Lane.
The rezoning will allow the developer to build more than 100 units on the property.
The developer said her goal is to bring affordable housing to the area but residents feel like it’s not the right fit for their community.
“This builder is targeting 18- to 24-year-olds, let’s not call them kids, young adults but with that, we’re going to have more crime, flooding. Our property values are going down,” Dawn Shaw said.
Richard Thayer lives in the Sandy Point subdivision and expressed his sentiments about the vote.
“I’m very grateful for Councilmember Gaffney and Johnson about their support to the rest of the council. I’m very disappointed. We had close to 100 people in our community come out to show support. We don’t want this outside. We don’t want this dysfunctional-looking hotel,” Thayer said.
Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr., who has been very vocal in supporting the residents, expressed his disappointment in the committee’s votes.
There was more frustration at the meeting from a group of Oceanway residents who are fighting to stop a Chick-fil-A from being built in their neighborhood.
For the second time, residents said they were surprised to learn that the proposed plans were on the agenda for public hearing at the city council meeting.
They said it was contrary to the dates that were provided to them at a breakout meeting several weeks ago.
“I am feeling deceived and disheartened by the continued deception either intentional, or I don’t know. You make a mistake once, okay we take it at face value. We’re now out of two meetings where we’ve been given incorrect information. It’s not a good look to the city whether it’s corruption or incompetence. I’m not sure but I am very disgusted,” Christine Brundage said.
The next meeting to address the proposed Chick-fil-A plans is on Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. with the planning commission.