The Jacksonville Planning Commission voted Jan. 22 to endorse a compromise plan for expansion of Apna Bazar, a grocery store and market that drew opposition in 2025 over a plan to add a slaughterhouse to its property.
After hearing a representative of Apna Bazar say the owner had “unequivocally” abandoned the proposed meat processing facility, the commission voted in favor of a land use amendment and rezoning for the store at 11153 Beach Blvd.
The vote came over opposition from several residents living near the store, who said the compromise plan would still be detrimental to their neighborhood.
The land use amendment, contained in Ordinance 2025-0487, would change 1.81 acres of the property to Community/General Commercial from Low Density Residential. Rezoning Ordinance 2025-0488 would change 6.82 acres to Planned Unit Development from Residential Low Density-60 and Commercial Community General-2.
Live-animal processing would not be among permitted uses of the property under the amendment and rezoning, which now advance to the Jacksonville City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee.
Slaughterhouse withdrawn
In November 2025, Apna Bazar owner Mohammed Faisal issued a statement he had withdrawn a request to build a 30,000-square-foot addition and a 23,800-square-foot freestanding structure east of the store where poultry, lambs, goats and cows were to be processed in accordance with Islamic dietary laws.
The withdrawal came after the slaughterhouse drew sharp criticism from animal rights activists and nearby residents, who expressed concerns with potential health risks and noise pollution.
In late November, Council voted to send legislation for rezoning and a land use amendment for Beach Boulevard grocer Apna Bazar back through its hearing process before the Jacksonville Planning Commission and the Land Use and Zoning Committee.
At that time, Council President Kevin Carrico, who represents the district encompassing the property and neighborhood, struck a verbal agreement between residents and Apna Bazar to rerefer the bill to consider CGC land use.
Neighbor concerns
At the Planning Commission meeting, several residents said the proposed expansion of Apna Bazar would exacerbate traffic problems along Beach Boulevard, create noise and encroach into the residential neighborhood adjacent to the store.
Lisa Ellen Dirnberger said she and others living near the store had lost trust with the Apna ownership during discussions about the slaughterhouse. Dirnberger said neighbors were concerned that the amendment and rezoning would open the door to other property uses that would be harmful to the neighborhood.
Dirnberger said neighbors’ suspicions grew in December when My Jax LLC, the Faisal-connected entity that owns Apna, purchased an adjacent residential lot in December.
“This now creates a box around an existing neighbor and is encroaching further into Cortez Road,” she said.
The Apna Bazar representative, attorney Cyndy Trimmer of Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow, said the ownership planned to build a residence on the property it purchased in December.
She said owners had addressed neighborhood concerns throughout the process and were open to further use restrictions based on neighbors’ input.
Trimmer said the proposed PUD expressly bars several uses that would be allowed under the CCG zoning, including restaurants serving alcohol, bars and liquor stores, adult arcade amusement center and adult entertainment.
A PUD allows uses, regulations and standards tailored to a property.
Trimmer said the PUD for Apna Bazar also included elements that would protect the neighborhood, such as height restrictions on buildings.
“If there are more uses we need to take out, they are open to that,” she said of the owners.
Support and opposition
C. Roselle Van Nostrand said she had spoken out against the slaughterhouse but supported the compromise plan.
Van Nostrand said she does not live in the neighborhood, but her girlfriend does. She said the store enriches Jacksonville’s culture. She praised Faisal for listening to the community and adjusting his plans.
“They have taken a blighted, horrible piece of property and made it a vibrant, exciting place to go,” she told commissioners. “If you haven’t been, you should go. It’s fabulous.
“They’re just going to build on that. They’re not really doing anything nefarious in my mind.
More is better. If you saw what they started with, it was a nightmare. Now there’s a barber shop, there’s a salon, there’s jewelry, there’s clothing.”
Van Nostrand was the only speaker in favor of the project. Alluding to the at-times intense opposition to the project, she closed her remarks by saying, “Now I’m going to try to get out of here before I get shot.”
Cindy Witt said the expansion would create more commercial activity in a corridor already overloaded with it.
“Why not build residential homes? That’s what it’s zoned for. That’s what it’s meant for,” she said, referring to the 1.81 acres designated Low Density Residential. “The homeowners bought their land with the thought and intention that it would stay residential.”
Plan advances
Planning Department staff recommended approval of both ordinances.
Commissioners approved them with little discussion. Commissioner Michael McGowan suggested to neighbors that they speak with Trimmer about uses they would like to see prohibited on the site.
“Otherwise, I think it’s kind of a straightforward shopping center that they’re trying to expand,” he said.
Commissioner Joshua Garrison agreed.
“The current owner and tenants are a cultural addition to Northeast Florida and it certainly is a very nice establishment,” he said, adding that he wished the ownership luck in the LUZ hearing.
The votes were 7-0 on Ordinance 2025-0487 and 6-1 on Ordinance 2025-0488.
Commissioner Dorothy Gillette voted against the rezoning,
“I think there’s a hidden agenda, and I don’t want a PUD,” she said. “It’s kind of simple. I let them have the CCG and I let them build out, but when I saw what they were doing peripherally to kind of cover that area and encircle the one homeowner, when something smells bad, I have to act on it.”