JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Growing pains have reached Jacksonville's Northside. The quiet neighborhood of Broward Pointe has roughly 70 homes, but a proposed development could nearly quadruple the amount of homes in the area.
However, some neighbors have more issues than just development next to their backyard.
Broward Point is a small neighborhood near the Jacksonville Zoo and many of the homes in the neighborhood back up to an undeveloped piece of land.
"That's actually the reason I moved here," says Brenda Smith, "it was very quiet, the area behind me was trees and nature."
But that could soon change if an approved rezoning bill is passed by City Council on Tuesday.
"I'm a 75 year old native Floridian," says John Gillette, "I've spent my entire life listening to promises of responsible development, at the same time I've seen us fill our swamps, drain our aquifers and leave vast wastelands of cement and concreate and I wonder if there's a better way to do that."
Increased development in the neighborhood is one issue, but trying to leave the neighborhood is a completely different issue. There is only one access road in or out of the Broward Pointe neighborhood onto Main Street. Before residents deal with the addition of up to 200 more homes, they have to navigate an irregular train schedule and cross train tracks without any safety arm bars in front of the tracks.
First Coast News brought up this issue to traffic engineer Jeff Buckholz, who said "I see potential for problems with emergency vehicles or residents commuting to work. I can't think of another place in the city with only one access."
A spokesman for the developer says that improvements and expansion of the access road are planned.
"To me that's a significant safety issue," says Gillette, "particularly when you add in the train. This road is barely wide enough for 2 pick up trucks side by side."
"As neighbors we're upset about it," says Smith, "it's disappointing and we're trying to push back, we hope city council will listen to us."
Soon, this small neighborhood could get a little more crowded.