Business owners at a shopping plaza in north Jacksonville say water is damaging their businesses due to a leaking roof they claim the property owner refuses to fix.
First Coast News saw tarps on the roof and 'wet floor' signs inside shops at Norwood Plaza in Brentwood. Now a Jacksonville city councilmember is bringing attention to the issue.
“The landlord just don’t care,” said Derrius Hall, head chef at Elevation Lounge.
Hall said after it rains, people come out of businesses at the plaza with buckets of water that came through their roofs.
“It’s not just us, it’s the whole strip,” Hall said. “The whole strip is going through it. Every morning people coming out their door with buckets, pouring it outside because they have to put buckets in, because it’s rain and stuff coming inside the building. All this stuff on the roof and stuff was like brand new, the panels and all that were brand new, but now you can see they’ve got water marks and stuff like that.”
Water marks and a wet floor sign are also inside Vixen Beauty Suites.
“[We] spent a lot of money inside of here to make it, bring it back to the community and give them a place to come get good food from,” Hall said. “And it’s like we’ve gotta worry about the rain and stuff damaging what we put in.”
Jacksonville City Councilmember Ju’Coby Pittman held a news conference Wednesday. In addition to the isuse with the roof, she and business owners said the lights in the parking lot do not work and potholes at the plaza are dangerous.
Pittman said the property owner is facing fines over the condition of the parking lot. She says she’s been trying to reach the property owner for over a year.
“Today we are requesting justice and also safety for these small businesses and for their customers,” Pittman said.
The owner of Elevation Lounge, Antione Gary, said his business has spent a lot of money trying to repair parts of the parking lot and the roof.
“It was told to us that the parking lot was going to get fixed, we’re back to the same potholes,” Gary said. “It’s constantly deteriorating. The roof is constantly deteriorating.”
First Coast News tried to reach the owner of the plaza multiple times Wednesday, but did not hear back.
“We just want him to help us help the community and keep something nice over here in the community,” said Hall.
Business owners hope with Pittman’s help, the issues they discussed will get fixed.