OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Land Use & Zoning Committee Meeting - April 21, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, April 21, 2026
BodyJacksonville, Florida
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, April 21, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:26:07

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

All right, good evening.

0:03

It is Tuesday, April 21st, 502.

0:08

We're gonna go ahead and convene the land use and zoning committee with introductions to the left.

0:15

Good afternoon to everyone.

0:16

Tyrone Clark Murray City Council District 9 just visiting, but I am here for number one.

0:22

Here for 15 and 16.

0:24

No, actually number one, and it should be six, yes, 16 and 15 and number one.

0:29

Okay, can we move the you want to move those up?

0:32

Because we have the appeal coming first, and that might take some time.

0:34

Yes, absolutely.

0:36

Thank you.

0:36

Okay.

0:37

All right, good outsinoa, Reginald Gaffin and Jillian, district eight.

0:41

Evening, Roy Damon, District 13 of Beach.

0:43

Joe Carlucci, District 5.

0:45

Raw We Aries, District 11.

0:47

Terrence Freeman at large group one.

0:50

Randy White, District 12.

0:52

Terrence Hart, the opposite general counsel.

0:57

Susan Kelly, Planning Department.

0:59

Karen Abney, Planning Department.

1:00

Casey Cox, Planning Department.

1:05

All right.

1:07

Committee members, we do have our presentation by Miss Eichner that I think we have all seen.

1:13

So Miss Eichner, come on down.

1:14

And we also want to go ahead and acknowledge our pages tonight.

1:18

We have Madeline Knight, who's actually already standing up.

1:20

Wave to the audience out there, and we have Dylan Patel.

1:26

And just for the audience, if you have any students that want to be pages, they can sign up to do this basically every Tuesday, whether it's L U Z or City Council.

1:35

So thank you both for being here.

1:37

All right, Miss Eichner, the floor is yours.

1:40

Thank you, Teresa Eichner, Jacksonville City Council.

1:43

Through the chair to the committee.

1:50

Who is here tonight?

1:51

Since early February, we have been diligently trying to make our website ADA compliant.

1:58

The Department of Justice has some requirements under the ADA to require that by the by Friday of this week.

2:19

And so we've gone through a series of pulling documents down.

2:24

And one of the places that it will be most impacted is our legislative gateway.

2:30

And so we are the record keeper for the county.

2:35

And as part of that, the legislative gateway will be coming down for a period of four to six weeks.

2:41

During that time, we will be working with a vendor to provide those services to get that site back up.

2:48

And so during that time, there will be an email of that address available so that legislation and any exhibits attached will be available to uh members of the public will be emailing those.

3:01

Um and then internally we'll be providing a username and password so that any um access that staff uh needed to the to um that website will still be available internally.

3:14

Um so I'll accept I'll you know um I'll be available if anybody needs that, but I'll be circulating that information tomorrow.

3:22

Uh portions of that website are already down now.

3:25

Um but again we'll be circulating that information internally for staff and um that um email address will be available in the morning for the public okay thank you.

3:38

We have no questions, no speakers in the queue.

3:41

Thank you.

3:42

Thank you so much.

3:43

All right.

3:44

All right, committee members.

3:45

We're gonna uh go to item number one first, uh obviously, but then we are also going to uh skip over to page eight.

3:54

So with that, we will uh go to item number one, 2025 630.

4:01

Do we have any speaker cards?

4:04

Do we have any speaker cards on this one?

4:06

Nope.

4:07

Okay, so let's go ahead and open the public hearing.

4:09

We have no speaker cards.

4:10

We're gonna close public hearing, bring back to committee.

4:15

Okay, we have a motion and second to withdraw with the return of fees.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning And Land Use█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Historic Preservation███████████████████26%
Procedural███4%
Community Engagement██3%
Transportation Safety█2%
Housing█2%
Technology and Innovation█1%
Affordable Housing█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Land Use & Zoning Committee Meeting - April 21, 2026

The Jacksonville City Council Land Use & Zoning Committee convened on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, at 5:02 PM and adjourned at 8:28 PM. The committee heard over 20 agenda items, including a major rezoning for 77 single-family units on Morse Avenue, a historic preservation appeal, and several routine rezonings, waivers, and deferrals.

Consent Calendar

  • 2025-0630 (0 Commonwealth Ave rezoning): Withdrawn with return of fees (6-0).
  • 2025-0724 (6926 Garden St rezoning): Approved 7-0.
  • 2026-0164 (3010 Leon Rd land use amendment): Approved 4-0.
  • 2026-0165 (3010 Leon Rd rezoning): Approved 5-0.
  • 2026-0166 (0 Edgewood Ave land use amendment): Amended to correct street name and approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0167 (0 Edgewood Ave rezoning): Amended and approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0170 (903 University Blvd N PUD modification): Amended with conditions and approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0174 (0 Wages Wy road frontage waiver): Approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0175 (0 Wages Wy administrative deviation): Approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0177 (4526 Mundy Dr S road frontage waiver): Withdrawn 6-0.
  • 2026-0211 (11247 Alta Dr zoning exception for Kappuccinos): Approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0212 (1923 Valencia Dr road frontage waiver): Approved 6-0.
  • 2026-0273, 0274, 0275, 0276: Read 2nd time and rereferred.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Morse Avenue/Seaboard Ave items (2026-0006 & 2026-0007): Approximately 40 residents spoke in opposition, citing concerns about traffic, school capacity, loss of rural character, and incompatibility with existing lot sizes. Several speakers (e.g., Lawrence Chaney, Shelley Chaney, Steve Tomaszewski) expressed emotional distress and argued the 30-foot-wide lots would set a negative precedent. Two residents (Samantha Ceres, Jamie Travis-Leonard) opposed on density and traffic grounds. Supporters included developer representatives (Hayden Phillips, Ken Atlee, John Moy) and planning expert Folks Huxford, who argued the project met comprehensive plan goals for infill housing and was compatible with nearby developments.
  • Historic Preservation Appeal (2026-0232): Appellant Brenna Durden and architect Bill Luthold argued the proposed house at 2230 St. Johns Ave was compatible with the district and that street-facing garages were common. Opponents, including Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission Chair Ethan Gregory and Riverside Avondale Preservation Executive Director Shannon Blankenship, argued the design violated design guidelines and would set a dangerous precedent. Architect Catherine Duncan spoke in support of the appellant.
  • Commonwealth Ave items (2026-0168 & 2026-0169): Resident Sally Barnes opposed the rezoning, stating the lot was too small for apartments. Councilmember Clark-Murray requested deferral to speak with the applicant.
  • Old Kings Rd items (2026-0122 & 2026-0123): Samantha Ceres and Jamie Travis-Leonard spoke in opposition, citing rural character and lot size concerns.
  • Pitts Rd items (2026-0126 & 2026-0127): Jamie Travis-Leonard opposed an auto sales facility, arguing it was a de facto junkyard incompatible with the area.

Discussion Items

  • Morse Avenue Land Use Amendment (2026-0006): The proposal to change 9.7 acres from LDR to MDR to allow 77 units (7.9 units/acre) was debated at length. Planning staff recommended denial, citing incompatibility with the low-density neighborhood. The applicant offered a site-specific policy capping density at 8 units/acre. Councilmembers Rory Diamond and Joe Carlucci supported, citing housing needs and proximity to Blanding Boulevard. Councilmember Rahman Johnson opposed, calling the small density increase a sign of a broken code and urging a new “LMDR” category. The amendment to add the site-specific policy passed, and the bill was approved 4-3 (Carlucci, Diamond, White, Arias in favor; Freeman, Gaffney Jr., Johnson opposed).
  • Morse Avenue PUD Rezoning (2026-0007): Companion rezoning to PUD for the same 77-unit development. Similar debate; the committee amended to include revised written description and site plan capping density. Approved 4-3 along the same lines.
  • Historic Preservation Appeal (2026-0232): The committee conducted a de novo hearing on the appeal of the JHPC denial of a certificate of appropriateness for a new house at 2230 St. Johns Ave. The appellant presented testimony from architect Bill Luthold and owner Ron Root. OGC attorney Carla Schell argued the design violated guidelines because of the front-facing garage and that a compromise design with side-facing garage had been approved. The committee voted 5-2 to grant the appeal, overturning the JHPC decision (Ayes: Carlucci, Diamond, Freeman, White, Arias; Nays: Gaffney Jr., Johnson).
  • Other items: Several items were deferred or continued to later cycles at the request of the applicant or councilmember.

Key Outcomes

  • 2026-0006 (Morse Ave land use amendment): Approved 4-3 with a site-specific policy capping density at 7.9 units/acre (max 77 units).
  • 2026-0007 (Morse Ave PUD rezoning): Approved 4-3 with amended site plan and written description.
  • 2026-0232 (Historic preservation appeal): Appeal granted 5-2, reversing the JHPC denial.
  • Deferrals: Items 15-16 (Commonwealth Ave) continued to May 5; items 5-10 (Old Kings Rd, Rampart Rd, Pitts Rd) continued to May 5 or May 19; items 21-23 (Wilson Blvd, Almeda St, Owens Rd) deferred to next cycle.
  • All other routine consent items were approved or withdrawn as noted.

Meeting adjourned at 8:28 PM.

Meeting Transcript

All right, good evening. It is Tuesday, April 21st, 502. We're gonna go ahead and convene the land use and zoning committee with introductions to the left. Good afternoon to everyone. Tyrone Clark Murray City Council District 9 just visiting, but I am here for number one. Here for 15 and 16. No, actually number one, and it should be six, yes, 16 and 15 and number one. Okay, can we move the you want to move those up? Because we have the appeal coming first, and that might take some time. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Okay. All right, good outsinoa, Reginald Gaffin and Jillian, district eight. Evening, Roy Damon, District 13 of Beach. Joe Carlucci, District 5. Raw We Aries, District 11. Terrence Freeman at large group one. Randy White, District 12. Terrence Hart, the opposite general counsel. Susan Kelly, Planning Department. Karen Abney, Planning Department. Casey Cox, Planning Department. All right. Committee members, we do have our presentation by Miss Eichner that I think we have all seen. So Miss Eichner, come on down. And we also want to go ahead and acknowledge our pages tonight. We have Madeline Knight, who's actually already standing up. Wave to the audience out there, and we have Dylan Patel. And just for the audience, if you have any students that want to be pages, they can sign up to do this basically every Tuesday, whether it's L U Z or City Council. So thank you both for being here. All right, Miss Eichner, the floor is yours. Thank you, Teresa Eichner, Jacksonville City Council. Through the chair to the committee. Who is here tonight? Since early February, we have been diligently trying to make our website ADA compliant. The Department of Justice has some requirements under the ADA to require that by the by Friday of this week. And so we've gone through a series of pulling documents down. And one of the places that it will be most impacted is our legislative gateway. And so we are the record keeper for the county. And as part of that, the legislative gateway will be coming down for a period of four to six weeks. During that time, we will be working with a vendor to provide those services to get that site back up. And so during that time, there will be an email of that address available so that legislation and any exhibits attached will be available to uh members of the public will be emailing those. Um and then internally we'll be providing a username and password so that any um access that staff uh needed to the to um that website will still be available internally. Um so I'll accept I'll you know um I'll be available if anybody needs that, but I'll be circulating that information tomorrow. Uh portions of that website are already down now. Um but again we'll be circulating that information internally for staff and um that um email address will be available in the morning for the public okay thank you. We have no questions, no speakers in the queue. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right.

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