A 1960s-era gas station and convenience store in Fairfax would be repurposed as a seafood restaurant with outdoor seating under plans that will go before the Jacksonville Planning Commission on Aug. 8.
The commission will consider two companion requests that would help pave the way for redevelopment of the property at 4323 Herschel St., at northeast Herschel Street and San Juan Avenue.
The owner of the 0.34-acre site, San Juan Corner LLC, is seeking zoning code deviations and a waiver of minimum distance requirements to obtain a liquor license for the establishment.
The request related to the liquor license would eliminate a 500-foot buffer between the property and a parking lot owned by St. Johns Presbyterian Church, which abuts the property’s eastern boundary.
The zoning deviations include reducing the minimum number of off-street parking spaces from 35 to eight, reducing the minimum number of loading spaces from one to none, eliminating a minimum setback for a trash container along the west side of the property and reducing a landscape buffer in the vehicle use area.
A summary of the project says the applicant plans to repurpose the existing building into a seafood restaurant with alcohol service and limited outdoor seating.
Planning staff is recommending approval of the liquor license waiver on the condition that it will not go into effect without passage of a zoning exception currently making its way through the City Council process. That legislation, Ordinance 2024-0488, would allow the restaurant to serve all alcoholic beverages for on- or off-site consumption and allow for outdoor sales of alcohol on the property.
The ordinance is scheduled for a public hearing before the Council Land Use and Zoning Commission on Aug. 20.
According to documents attached to the Planning Commission agenda items, the applicant faced insufficient space on the property to meet requirements for off-street parking and landscaping. To resolve the issue, the applicant secured approval from St. Johns Presbyterian Church to share 27 parking spaces in the lot adjacent to the property.
“Due to the availability of the Shared Parking, the applicant requests this administrative deviation to reduce the amount of required off-street parking,” the staff report reads.
“Additionally, because the Property was previously used as a gas station and convenience store, it is not effectively designed for commercial uses. To overcome existing site constraints, Applicant proposes rearranging the vehicle use areas to eliminate curb cuts, reduce the width of remaining access points, provide for one-way traffic circulation and maximize off-street parking.”
The summary says the proposed site design improves vehicular and pedestrian safety along the rights of way.
A site plan provided with the application shows a traffic-flow design in which cars will enter off of San Juan Avenue and exit onto Herschel Street. The plan shows seven diagonal parking spaces north of the existing structure, with an outdoor seating area between the spaces and the building. Building additions are shown on either end of the building and a new sidewalk along the street-facing boundary of the property.
Staff recommended approval of the zoning deviations.
According to the Planning Commission documents and state records, the president of San Juan Corner LLC is John C. Williams.
