After drawing opposition from several Jacksonville City Council members, a proposal to create a special development review board for Northeast Jacksonville advanced to a final Council vote with compromise amendments attached.
The proposal from Council member Mike Gay, contained in Ordinance 2024-0851, would establish a board that would supplant the city Planning Commission to review requests for rezonings and land use changes in an area roughly bordered by the St. Johns River to the south, Main Street to the west and the Duval County line to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
On March 18, the Council Land Use and Zoning Committee sent the ordinance to a final vote by the full Council. The version that the Council will consider on March 25 contains a handful of amendments to address concerns raised by Council members and members of the city Planning and Development Department staff.
Among them:
• The northeast board would include five members who live in the boundary and four members of the Planning Commission, with the chair of the Planning Commission also leading the northeast board. That amendment was in response to criticism that creation of the northeast board would disrupt attempts to impose uniform planning across Duval County. The Planning Commission reviews and provides recommendations on rezoning requests for the full county.
• The northeast board would meet in the same room as the Planning Commission to save staff time by not having to travel to meetings.
• The board would be established on a 12-month trial basis, during which time no similar boards could be created in other areas. That provision stemmed from concerns that other regions of Jacksonville would adopt the idea of creating their own boards, adding a layer of government throughout the city and resulting in a patchwork of development.
Gay said the ordinance and amendments were designed to give Northeast Jacksonville residents, many of whom live in his District 2, greater influence in determining development that protects the character of their neighborhoods and strengthens the economic vitality of the area. He said the area was like no other in Jacksonville, with a mix that ranges from heavy industry to suburban neighborhoods, parks and preserves, three beaches and 15 islands.
“Jacksonville is not the same city that we were when we first consolidated,” he said. “Changes have got to come to keep us moving forward. We have to bring our developers and our residents together.
“We don’t get a mulligan to go back and change these developments once they’re done.”
Citizen support, builder opposition
About a dozen residents spoke in favor of the ordinance, saying it would help them counter a surge in multifamily development that has overtaxed the area’s infrastructure. The overdevelopment is causing problems with draining, traffic congestion and other issues, they said.
Austin Nicklas, representing the Northeast Florida Builders Association, said the ordinance could increase uncertainty for businesses, drive away investment and raise the cost of housing.
“According to the National Association of Homebuilders, 24% of the cost of every home is due to government regulation,” he said. “Therefore, we don’t need more government or new governmental entities in Jacksonville.”
LUZ Committee members praised Gay for his work on the ordinance, which he introduced in October 2024 and has revised after several community meetings and Council committee discussions.
One proponent, committee member Reggie Gaffney Jr., added a small neighborhood in his district to the area covered by the special board.
“I got a big outpour from that community that it would like to be added in this legislation,” he said.
Council opposition
Member Joe Carlucci said he wouldn’t support the bill even as amended. He said that if residents in any area believe the Planning Commission is not sufficiently taking the unique concerns of their neighborhoods into account when weighing rezoning requests, he would be happy to address that issue.
Committee chair Kevin Carrico said he also remained concerned that the bill would spawn “14 different planning commissions,” meaning special boards in each of the 14 Council districts, which would create a sprawl of government.
The committee sent the ordinance to the full Council on a 4-0 vote against it. But because of a twist involving Council rules, not all of the votes were from opponents.
With three committee members absent, anything less than a unanimous vote would have blocked the ordinance from advancing to Council and instead left it in control of the LUZ for at least another two weeks when the committee next meets.
Gaffney voted against the bill after asking Gay whether he would prefer to send it to the full Council or discuss it again at LUZ.
“I’d like to see it move on and not stay bogged down and labor extensively in committee,” Gay said.
The Council Rules Committee voted 4-3 on March 17 to recommend approval of the amended ordinance, which followed a 7-0 vote to deny it on Jan. 21 by the Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee.