Over the opposition of Duval County Public Schools, the Jacksonville Planning Commission approved a waiver to allow a proposed pickleball facility near Mayport’s Anchor Academy Elementary School to serve alcohol.
On a 4-1 vote, with commissioner Amy Fu opposed and four members absent, the commission OK’d the waiver for the property at 2989 Mayport Road. The site shares a 150-foot border with Anchor Academy at 555 Wonderwood Drive off of Mayport Road.
The waiver is for a minimum 500-foot distance between a school or church and an establishment with a liquor license.
The approved distance is technically zero feet, which reflects the strip of shared property border, but an aerial view of the area shows that the pickleball operation is separated from the school by a heavily wooded area that is roughly as large as the school campus.
DCPS urges denial
DCPS Superintendent Christopher Bernier sent an email Oct. 17 to Commission Chair Michael McGowan saying DCPS urged the commission to enforce the 500-foot requirement and deny the waiver.
Randy Gallup, a school district representative to the commission, told commissioners he could not recall a superintendent ever sending such a message.
Attorney Cyndy Trimmer, a representative of the property owner, said the pickleball business plans to offer alcohol at an on-site restaurant and pro shop area. She said the setup is common in pickleball operations, citing the chain Chicken N Pickle, which operates indoor/outdoor entertainment facilities with pickleball courts, sports bars and restaurants.
Trimmer said the developer planned to build an 8-foot fence, 2 feet higher than the minimum-required height, along the northeast portion of the property that is shared with the school grounds. She said trees in that corner of the property would be left in place.
Under amendments approved by the commission, the owner of the property will be required to maintain the 8-foot fence and a 10-foot landscaping barrier.
The property is zoned Commercial Community/General-2, which allows for sales of beer and wine. The business will be accessible from Mayport Road and not Wonderwood Drive, a Planning and Development Department staff report stated.
Resident opposition
Mayport resident Ted Corley spoke in opposition, urging the commission to “draw a line and put a stop to the encroachment into protected barriers around our schools.”
Corley said a similar exception allowed for construction of Thee Officers Club, a strip club at 657 Wonderwood Drive near the school to the southwest.
“It’s my opinion that Thee Officers Club should never have been granted permitting at the location,” he said.
“I am confident that very few parents driving by the club say to their daughters, ‘This is the place where I want you to be when you grow up, because that’s where the girls are.’”
In response to a question from commissioner Charles Garrison, Gallup said Anchor Academy was on a list of DCPS schools being considered for closure under a five-year plan approved Oct. 1 by the school board. The district lists enrollment at the school at 288 students, less than half of its 658-student capacity.
McGowan said that although reducing the minimum distance to zero “sounds egregious,” the distance from the door of the facility to the school along the roads is about 1,200 feet. With the fence, trees and a retention pond buffering the properties, he said, “it looks like a very thoughtfully planned site plan.”
Fu cited the district’s opposition in explaining her vote against the waiver. Commissioners voting in favor were McGowan, Vice Chair Tina Meskel, Secretary Mone Holder and Garrison.
The commission vote constituted final action on the waiver, McGowan said.
The property owner is listed on city documents as 2995 Mayport Road LLC. State records list Bartley Snow as a registered agent and authorized member of the LLC.
Other action
In other action, the commission voted 5-0 in favor of a land use amendment (Ordinance 2024-0759) and a rezoning request (Ordinance 2024-0760) to build 64 town homes on 5.24 acres at 3707 Newcomb Road southwest of Jacksonville International Airport.
The land use amendment is from Rural Residential to Medium Density Residential. The rezoning is from Residential Rural-Acre to Residential Medium Density-A.
The property is surrounded by single-family homes to the north, campgrounds to the south and west, and vacant land to the east.
It is about a quarter of a mile northwest of the Lem Turner Road and Interstate 295 interchange.
The commission’s vote advances the ordinances to the Council Land Use and Zoning Committee.