JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Dozens of Mandarin neighbors are fired up about a proposed rezoning they say would bring heavy traffic to an already busy residential area.
Christ's Church owns the 11 acres on Livingston Rd. The church moved to Greenland but kept the property, where a sports complex sits. An application put in by the church asks the city to rezone the property for 100 new multifamily town homes. Katrina Aprile lives about 500 feet from the spot.
“Traffic is terrible to the point that people go into the left lane trying to get to their houses because of school pickup traffic is so bad,” Aprile said.
There are three schools nearby. Administrative Assistant at LifePoint Academy Rosemary Ancion said she’s worried about staff and student safety.
“Please do not vote for this,” Ancion said. “Please do not let this pass through. There’s a lot of kids, and it’s not just our kids, people from this school over here will park over here and walk over there to pick up their kids because the line is so long.”
We also spoke with councilman Michael Boylan, District 6. He says the purpose of the townhall Wednesday was, "to provide the applicant the opportunity to share what they're planning to build and to provide the neighborhood the opportunity to ask questions."
The church’s agent, William Michaelis, declined to interview but told First Coast News reporter, Cheyenne Cole, they plan to propose an “intersection improvement” to the community at Wednesday night’s town hall. It would add a right turn lane to accommodate eastbound traffic on Livingston.
Aprile’s answer when we asked if this changes her mind on the rezoning: a hard “no.” She said not only would the townhomes be an eyesore in the quaint neighborhood, but the land is also known to flood when it rains.
“On the street that the property’s on,” Aprile said, “floods off the football field and into the street and we have ditches on both sides you can see, but the ditches fill and the whole street is flooded.”
A town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Mandarin Senior Citizens Center will include both residents and church leadership.
The Jacksonville Planning Commission is set to discuss the rezoning at a meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.