Eleven months after a proposed set of homes across from Riverside’s Stockton Street town center emerged to immediate pushback from nearby residents, a rezoning request for the residences is headed toward a final vote from the Jacksonville City Council.
On June 17, the Council Land Use and Zoning Committee voted 6-0 to recommend approval of Ordinance 2024-0539, which would rezone the property from Planned Unit Development to a new PUD that would allow for construction of five two-story homes on the site.
The LUZ vote came after nearly 90 minutes of discussion in which business owners in the town center and residents in the area expressed opposition to the rezoning. A chief concern is that the residences have no off-street parking and instead will rely on spaces along Stockton Street and other neighborhood streets.
At-Large Group 5 Council member Chris Miller, who lives in the neighborhood, said there are 35 regular spaces and two spaces for disabled individuals at the town center. There are 10 businesses in the area, he said, none of which have off-street parking.
“There are 20 spaces that it’s my understanding will be taken offline for a year or more for construction,” said Miller, who is not a member of the LUZ but sat in on the meeting as a nonvoting visitor. “You take 20 spaces away from these businesses for a year or more and leave them with 15 available spots, when they have 30 to 35 employees working every day, not to mention customers and everybody else, and that’s my concern.”
Zack Burnett, the owner of Bold Bean Coffee Roasters at 869 Stockton St., Suite 1, said the new homes would make it more difficult for customers of the town center businesses to patronize their shops.
“All of the business owners in that strip, we have worked very hard at building this community that really supports us,” he said. “Ensuring the success of these established businesses is going to be much more beneficial for the neighborhood than building these five single-family homes.”
Scott Crawley, owner of Focus Physical Therapy at 869 Stockton St., Suite 3, said the reduction of available parking would make it less safe for his patients to visit his practice. Many are seniors with reduced mobility, he said.
Among other concerns, nearby business owners and residents said the houses worsen stormwater problems in the flood-prone area and increase population density.
Described by the developer as “row-style” houses, the set of five two-story residences is planned on a 0.23-acre rectangular lot between Myra and College streets, immediately north of the former John Gorrie Junior High School. That school was redeveloped into condominiums by Delores Barr Weaver and J. Wayne Weaver, the former owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The property where the homes are planned is owned by the John Gorrie Investment Group LLC, which, according to state records, is led by the Weavers.
Rezoning Ordinance 2024-0539 was introduced to Council in July 2024.
Greg Matovina, a representative for the owners, said the current PUD allows for construction of three-story units and commercial development covering 80% of the lot. If fully built-out, he said, that development would add 800 car trips per day to the town center.
The houses will generate 50 car trips, he said. City Planning and Development Department staff said that with the houses in place, Stockton Street would be at roughly 50% of traffic capacity.
Matovina said off-street parking is not required in the lot’s current zoning.
Miller sought a compromise in which the site plan would be reconfigured with a reduced number of houses to allow for off-street parking. He pointed to a new infill development on College Street near Roosevelt Boulevard where developers had provided off-street parking for two-story residences.
Matovina said the developers would not consider building fewer than five houses.
“I always try to find a way forward we all can work with,” Miller said. “I just feel bad for the businesses moving forward if this goes through the way it is now.”
Matovina said the parking on the south side of Stockton covers utility lines that need to be accessed during construction, meaning those spaces would need to be removed while the structures are being built.
The committee approved an amendment that the developers would work to minimize the effects of the removal of the parking spaces, such as by working on a portion of them at a time and keeping the remainder available.
Committee member Rory Diamond said he understood that parking was limited but urged business owners to consider that the developers could add commercial property that would put far more pressure on the parking supply.
“This is a downzoning,” he said. “Someone will build commercial if they don’t build houses.”
Council member Jimmy Peluso, whose District 7 includes the property, said the traffic impact of the houses would mostly be limited to weekends and Friday evenings. He said additional parking could possibly be created along nearby stretches of Myra Street where it currently is restricted.
“There’s no history for why those no parking signs are there,” he said.