JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New documents obtained by Action News Jax reveal a set of ordinances going through the city council could benefit developers more than neighbors.
Action News Jax reported Monday on a set of bills that would allow for multi-family housing in low-density neighborhoods all in an effort to increase affordable housing and expand what’s referred to as the “missing middle.”
READ: Jacksonville ordinance could bring major change to low-density housing neighborhoods
“It was that dream of suburban bliss, but living close to an urban core,” Chrissy Bott, a San Jose neighbor, said. She’s worried these three bills would change that. “It changes the quality of life for the people who live there substantially.”
She obtained the transcript of a recent Land Development Regulations Update Committee Meeting which heightened her concern.
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“St. Johns is closed for business. Clay County is moving very fast to that position. Nassau is very hard to get anything done. And so, Duval is the shining star...if we don’t get this right, we’re going to be closed for business in a couple of years, too,” the transcript said.
Bott believes that shows the city is gearing changes for the developer, not the neighbors that would be impacted.
The transcript further shows committee members are aware some will oppose the changes. Even though the bill wouldn’t necessarily change the size of homes, just the number of units inside — with duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes.
“I’m thinking neighbors and neighborhoods are going to object,” the document shows.
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The city’s resiliency office had already been working on a map to depict the best areas for future development with flooding risks and climate change taken into account. The Mayor’s Office and council put together the Land Development Regulations Update Committee to address resilient growth and affordability.
According to the transcript though, the council bills undercut their work and put members on a shortened timeline.
“It’s irritating, to say the least, that we are having to truncate a year’s worth of work to try to get something that isn’t truly ideal,” one board member said.
The bills will be brought up during the next Land Use and Zoning meeting next Tuesday and then go before the full council for a vote after that.
“You have to be very proactive. If you don’t have a neighborhood association, step one up,” she said.
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