Countering a recommendation by the city Planning and Development Department staff, the Jacksonville Planning Commission voted April 17 to support plans by a family trucking business to build a facility along Soutel Drive in Northwest Jacksonville.
The commission voted 7-0 to recommend approval of a rezoning request for DDT&L Inc. and DTFII Inc. to construct a gated parking lot on the vacant 0.51-acre site on the north side of Soutel east of Norfolk Boulevard. The property is owned by Dale Fisher, owner of DDT&L Inc.
Fisher’s son, Dale Fisher II, is the owner of DFTII Inc.
The vote was on Ordinance 2025-0212, which would rezone the property from Commercial Community/General-1 to Planned Unit Development. With the commission’s approval, the ordinance advances to the City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee.
The elder Fisher said he and his son own eight semitractors between them that they plan to park overnight at the lot between hauling runs. No trailers would be parked at the facility, as the Fishers do not own any, but rather haul containers from other companies.
A rendering shows a walled entrance with retractable gates and landscaping along Soutel, with fencing and lighting on the other three property borders and a two-vehicle garage at the rear of the lot.
Planning staff recommended denial of the rezoning, saying the use of the property as a commercial parking facility would be out of character with a predominantly residential neighborhood north of the lot.
Josh Cockrell, who represented the Fishers, provided commissioners with 176 letters from residents he said supported the development. Those residents live near the property, he said.
Cockrell said the community support was reflective of Dale Fisher having been born and raised in the neighborhood and then returning to start a business there after serving in the U.S. Navy.
Cockrell said the Planned Unit Development specified that only the tractor portion of semitrucks would be parked at the lot. He said uses that have drawn opposition from neighbors in other rezoning requests, such as liquor stores and adult entertainment businesses, would not be allowed under the PUD.
“Overall, we have a use here of a property that would otherwise sit vacant in this community,” he said.
Planning commissioners noted that the property is surrounded on three sides by vacant properties and that the only residential neighboring property backs up to the lot.
Commission Chair Michael McGowan said the neighboring residential property would be protected by 40 feet of buffering. He said the properties to the east and west of the lot are both zoned Commercial Community/General-1.
“I don’t know that it feels out of character,” he said.
At Soutel and Norfolk, properties include a Dollar General store, a multitenant retail building and a vacant lot.
Several family members and friends of the Fishers spoke in support of the rezoning at the commission meeting. The request drew one speaker in opposition, an owner of an adjacent property who does not live in the neighborhood.
“I’m a little shaken, a little nervous. I’m trying to calm down,” Dale Fisher said after the vote. “All I can say is thank the Lord for showing us this blessing.”