JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The proposed Oceanway Chick-Fil-A is one step closer to being built, following Tuesday's 6-1 vote in favor of the restaurant by the City's Land Use and Zoning Committee.
After a decision was deferred last month, committee members were able to look through the 600-page traffic study and discussed and take a vote.
While committee members voted in favor, the proposed Chick-Fil-A is not popular for residents in the area who are concerned about traffic and congestion.
"I’m hurt for the community, the community took a loss tonight," said District 8 Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr. He was the only member to vote against the plan.
"The community been fighting for this for the last six to seven months and I felt like their concerns fell on deaf ears tonight," said Gaffney.
Many concerned residents like Christine Brundage have been vocal about the safety and traffic concerns she has if the Chick-Fil-A is in her neighborhood.
"I asked the councilmembers, 'how would you like your neighborhood entrance to be the entrance of a drive-thru restaurant?'" said Brundage, "They’ve not come to the table with any ideas, any answers to questions, so that was a specific point of frustration to me."
"It's gonna use our primary access point into our neighborhood, backing up our street, it's gonna cause congestion traffic problems, it's just really disappointing the vote went the way it went because we've outlined so many major concerns," said John Pepera, Northcreek resident.
However, residents are leaving tonight still hopeful since City Council will vote next week and make a final decision on the proposed Chick-Fil-A.
"Still another vote next week and we'll see how that one ends up," said Brundage.
"So it’s still hope we still got hope we can get this denied this Chick-Fil-A denied," said Gaffney.
City Council will meet next Tuesday, June 11 for a City Council meeting and vote on this proposed Oceanway Chick-Fil-A.