A proposed infill development with up to 110 single-family homes along Old Kings Road South is set to move forward, receiving approval on Aug. 11 from Jacksonville City Council on land use and zoning changes despite some neighborhood concern.
Council voted 17-0 on Ordinance 2026-0477, which would change the land use to Medium Density Residential, and 18-0 on Ordinance 2026-0478, changing the zoning to a Planned Unit Development from Public Buildings and Facilities. A PUD allows uses, regulations and standards tailored to a property.
Both the zoning and land use for the property were Public Buildings and Facilities before the Council vote, which constituted final action on both ordinances.
Council members Michael Boylan was absent from the meeting, and member Rory Diamond was absent from the vote on 2026-0477.
The proposed development is at 7401 Old Kings Road S., the 12.41-acre site of the former Kings Trail Elementary School. The project would stretch from Old Kings Road to another development bordering Powers Avenue.
Dream Finders Homes is the developer, with Live Oak Contracting serving as engineer and architect, according to the Planning Department staff report.
The San Jose Neighborhood Association initially presented five requests for consideration in the project, none of which received endorsement from the Jacksonville Planning Commission nor Council.
On Aug. 11, Council member Joe Carlucci, whose District 5 includes the neighborhood, presented what he described as an amendment to the bill. That amendment included guarantees that the developer would include a 6-foot vinyl fence and a landscape buffer using trees and/or shrubbery along Old Kings Road South, a building height restriction of 30 feet and a waiver for a parking requirement requested by the Planning Department.
Chrissy Kinne, the neighborhood association’s government relations representative, did not respond to a request for comment on Carlucci’s amendment. However, members of the neighborhood association had opposed previous variations of the bill.
Members of the neighborhood association argued the development did not serve a public purpose as Powers Avenue had already seen substantial development in the past three years.
“By opposing 0477, it likely seems we’re just an angry neighborhood trying to block progress or ruin a developer’s bottom line and waste this committee’s valuable time. It looks like we’re completely inflexible. The truth is, we’ve spent months offering reasonable compromise conditions to protect public safety and neighborhood compatibility,” Kinne said at an Aug. 4 Land Use and Zoning Committee meeting.
“The applicant’s agent has flatly refused every single effort to collaborate because the rules state the companion PUD cannot be conditioned without the applicant’s consent, and because the applicant refuses to grant it, there’s no room left for negotiation or further discussion on the land use and how his application fails the legitimate public purpose requirement per their request, they’ve simply not shown how the PUD will govern that requirement for this property.”
Paul Harden, an attorney representing the developer, disagreed with Kinne’s assessment.
“I take great umbrage at Ms. Kinne’s description of our activity in this zoning. Within a week of her asking for a meeting, I met with her and went through all the issues that they had, and really we’ve addressed every one of them,” Harden said.