The Jacksonville Planning Commission recommended rezoning approval Thursday to allow the development of 1,700 single family and multifamily homes at eTown.
The houses are planned on 626 acres east of Interstate 295 and south of Atlantic Coast High School.
Under Ordinance 2018-671, the applicant proposes rezoning the property from residential low density-50 to planned unit development.
Planning department staff advised that the proposed development’s location is appropriate because of the proximity to the recently approved eTown village center designed for commercial, institutional and office uses.
Zoning Exceptions
The planning commission also approved zoning exceptions for:
• Caribbean Seafood Island Bar & Grill at 1959 San Marco Blvd. to serve all alcoholic beverages. The restaurant currently serves beer and wine. A companion application for a waiver reduced the required minimum distance for liquor service from a church from 500 feet to 280 feet, the distance from the business to Southside Baptist Church.
• Culhane’s Irish Pub, formerly the Tilted Kilt restaurant, at 9720 Deer Lake Court in Tinseltown, to serve all alcohol in conjunction with a restaurant and provide outside seating.
• D-Bat Baseball & Softball Academy, an indoor athletic training facility at 3030 Powers Ave., as a fitness center in an industrial light zoning district.
• Swift Transportation Co. of Arizona LLC, for outside storage of trucks and trailers along Pritchard Road in Westlake Industrial Park where it plans a truck distribution center for trailer transfer between customers and manufacturers.
• Biscuit and Buttercream, to operate a retail bakery at 2253 Oak St. at Osceola Street in a commercial residential office zoning district. The bakery plans to operate by appointment only.
Land use and rezoning recommendations
The planning commission recommended approval for land use changes and rezoning for:
• Ordinance 2017-382, to amend the land use of 5.32 acres at 6215 Wilson Blvd. and Shorewood Road from low medium density residential to residential-professional-institutional and conservation. The proposed rezoning under companion Ordinance 2017-383 would change from residential low density-60 and residential medium density-D to commercial residential office and conservation to provide for office use and conservation of wetlands. The rezoning includes an additional 6.08-acre parcel, located to the north, from residential medium density-A to commercial residential office for an assisted living facility.
• Ordinance 2018-700, to rezone 18.57 acres along Alvin Road from residential rural-acre to residential low density-60 for a subdivision consistent with the surrounding area.
• Ordinance 2018-668, for approval to rezone 44.44 acres at 2059 and 2107 New Berlin Road from residential rural-acre and PUD to PUD for a 99 single-family lot subdivision.
• Ordinance 2018-701, Villages of Kernan West, to rezone 73.21 acres on the north side of Atlantic Boulevard west of Marketplace Drive from two previous PUDs to one PUD. Retail and service establishments, offices, a movie theater, gas stations and service garages, automated car washes and restaurants previously were approved for the original PUDs, however some were approved in one and not the other. The rezoning allows the uses throughout the 73.21 acres.
• Ordinance 2018-702, to rezone 29.58 acres at Yellow Bluff Road and Burkit Lane from residential rural-acre to PUD for an 80-lot single-family subdivision consistent with the surrounding area.
The amendments and rezonings require City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee and then full council approvals.
The commission recommended denial for Ordinance 2018-667 to rezone 10.26 acres along Dunn Creek Road from PUD to PUD to allow a concrete batch-mixing plant using an 80-foot high tower and other industrial uses on the property.
The commission’s denial was based upon the denial recommendation from Planning Department staff and the site's proximity to residential zoned property.
On Friday, the Jacksonville Zoning Administrator heard the application for an administrative deviation for a proposed age-targeted multifamily rental community in Nocatee on Cross Town Drive.
Property owner Sonoc Co. LLC, led by Jed Davis, requests reduction of required off-street parking spaces from 340 to 253 spaces and the reduction of required bicycle parking spaces from 44 to seven.
A portion of the 7-acre property is in St. Johns County.
Developer Pollack Shores Real Estate Group of Atlanta proposes three apartment buildings and an amenity building.
The apartments will comprise 95 one-, 67 two- and 12 three-bedroom units.
Pollack Shores justifies the parking reductions based on surveys of similar developments and the surrounding golf-cart friendly community. The apartments will provide 31 golf cart spaces.
Planning and Development staff previously recommended approval of the deviation.
Pollack Shores Real Estate Group also built the five-story, 390-unit Brooklyn Riverside apartments between Magnolia and Park streets in Jacksonville.