An advisory committee examining development regulations is recommending a pared-down version of City Council member Rory Diamond’s proposed map for construction of “missing middle” housing.
In a unanimous vote Jan. 27, the Land Development Regulations Update Stakeholders Committee approved a subcommittee’s recommendations for a new map and text changes to legislation introduced by Diamond to allow infill development of duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes.
In his bill, Ordinance 2024-0868, Diamond proposed adding a missing middle zoning overlay to the Future Land Use Element of the city’s 2045 Comprehensive Plan, its master set of land use regulations.
The overlay proposed by Diamond would cover an area bordered roughly by the Trout River on the north, Baymeadows Road and south of 103rd Street to the south, Monument Road and Southside Boulevard to the east, and Interstate 295 and New Kings Road to the west.
Several areas were excluded, including the Downtown Northbank and Southbank, as well as the rural and suburban areas of the comprehensive plan.
The map approved by the committee would allow missing middle development in a reduced area within the same boundary as Diamond’s proposal. It would include:
• Corridors of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s four First Coast Flyer lines. That includes Philips Highway in south Jacksonville; Park Street and Blanding Boulevard in southwest Jacksonville; Arlington Expressway, Southside Boulevard and Beach Boulevard; and Jefferson Street, Boulevard Street, Golfair Boulevard, Norwood Avenue and Lem Turner Road in North Jacksonville.
• Seven other JTA bus routes with the potential to become Bus Rapid Transit Corridors, the designation given to the First Coast Flyer routes.
• A one-half mile corridor on each side of the Emerald Trail, which is under construction in and near Downtown.
Including recommendations from the city Planning and Development Department, the map approved by the committee would exclude neighborhoods with existing overlays such as the Riverside/Avondale and Springfield historical districts, and airport hazard areas. It also would restrict infill development to areas with low flood risk.
Neither Diamond’s map nor the recommendations from the committee would apply to neighborhoods with homeowners associations or properties with deed restrictions.
Ordinance 2024-0868 is scheduled for a public hearing Feb. 4 before the Council Land Use and Zoning Committee. That meeting begins at 5 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 117 W. Duval St.
Diamond and supporters of the bill say it will help address growing demand for housing types that lie between single-family homes and large apartment complexes.
The ordinance drew opposition from several Council members, who raised concerns that it could lead to unwanted and out-of-character development near or within existing single-family neighborhoods. Council member Joe Carlucci announced that he had asked the planning staff to exclude his District 5 from the bill.
At least two of his colleagues, Raul Arias and Ken Amaro, also indicated they wanted their districts excluded.
Emily Pierce, chair of the advisory committee, said the committee’s recommended maps retained all Council districts within the boundaries set by Diamond.
“City Council will do with it what they want to do, but we didn’t feel like it’s our purview to randomly carve out areas,” she said. “We think there’s good science and data behind this map.”
Among the text amendments recommended by planning staff, the missing middle overlay would be reevaluated at least every seven years, and developments would be required to be consistent with a to-be-written set of regulations to maintain neighborhoods’ character.
The committee, which was created by Mayor Donna Deegan’s office and Council, has been examining Jacksonville’s land use regulations for more than a year in relation to the city’s Resiliency Jacksonville report. That document lays out a strategy for addressing rising risks of flooding, extreme heat and other climate-related issues in Northeast Florida.