JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council will vote Tuesday evening on whether they should buy a piece of property that has been surrounded by controversy for the last few years.
Community members have been fighting a liquor store that was built right next to the KIPP VOICE Academy off Golfair Blvd. in the Brentwood area. The city proposed purchasing the property for a little over $1.8 million and has discussed turning it into some sort of community center.
Council Member Tyrona Clark-Murray was the only member of the city's Transportation, Energy, and Utilities Committee to vote against bringing the proposal in front of the full city council at last week's meeting. While she does not want a liquor store there, she does not believe buying the property would be a good use of city money. She explained the property was too close to I-95 and it used to be a gas station.
"It's not a place for a community center. It's not a place that I would like to gather with friends and family to do anything," Clark-Murray said.
She believes the money should go towards building a bigger community center with a park somewhere else in the neighborhood.
The owner originally bought the property for roughly $150,000 back in 2019. An appraiser hired by the city back in August of 2023 looked at the cost of constructing similar buildings throughout the city, along with how much the owner put into the property, which was $1.149 million.
Through the appraisal, the city administration and the owner negotiated the price of $1.8 million. Clark-Murray still thinks that number is too high.
"I want to find another way. I think that we have not exhausted all of our avenues. I definitely don't want to pay $1.8 million for this property, 12 times what the owner paid? I don't think it's fair," Clark-Murray explained.
Members of the community have been fighting this liquor store for a couple of years now, and they are calling on city leaders to take action. The store sits right next from KIPP VOICE Academy and they are concerned it would negatively influence the kids. Council member Matt Carlucci shares those concerns.
“I wish we didn't have to do it this way. But in the long haul, I feel better about it for the youth in our community," Carlucci said.
The city planning commission approved the zoning for the liquor store in 2020 despite staff analysis which determined it would not be a good fit for the neighborhood. Because of the way the zoning was handled, Carlucci said spending this money was the right thing to do.
"If this keeps one child from making a bad decision with other at-risk kids in that neighborhood, it's worth the cost," Carlucci said.
The city council meeting starts at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.