After the City Council rejected a plan by Councilman Mike Gay (District 2) to create a Northeast Jacksonville Development Review Board, fellow Councilman Rahman Johnson (District 14), who voted against Gay’s plan, proposed restructuring the current city planning board. Johnson said it would facilitate diverse representation of members from urban, suburban and rural areas.

The 12-page project plan titled, R.I.T.E. (Representation, Inclusion, Trust, and Equity) would expand the nine-member Planning Commission to 15 voting members and allows each Council member to recommend a resident from each of the 14 City Council districts and an at-large member. Commission members would continue to be appointed by the mayor, and the mayor would also select the at-large nominee.

Johnson said that this structure ensures geographic and demographic inclusion across all areas of the city.

Johnson told Eye that the plan is designed to increase the range of professional and life experiences of members beyond the current makeup. Currently, several commissioners have real-estate development or government backgrounds. 

“Planning should reflect the city,” said Johnson. “Diverse fields like environmental science, construction, small business, education, and civic engagement offer needed perspectives beyond development and law.”

In a previous article, Johnson made it clear that the plan was not a mandate, and it does not tell people what to do. Johnson referred to the plan as a working vision and a way to move the planning commission into the next era. He was quoted in another publication as saying, “The plan is certainly not perfect, but it’s a spark, a paradigm, a starting place, because we don’t just need processes, we need possibility.”

When asked how R.I.T.E. can ensure that planning decisions belong to the community, Johnson explained that R.I.T.E. embeds structured community input, equity assessments, and accountability mechanisms into planning processes. It works to amplify public voice.

Both Gay and Johnson’s proposals arose from complaints from residents who have voiced strong concerns about the current city planning process which they say has resulted in overdevelopment of their neighborhoods, particularly with multifamily developments, and strain on roads, drainage and other infrastructure.

Residents who supported Gay’s plan for the creation of the review board said those in the community where development is taking place are best suited to decide what is best for their neighborhoods. Primary complaints by residents are that no one is listening or including them in the planning process of the neighborhoods where they live.

James Matchett, who supported Gay’s plan, said a review board would give people in the community something they rarely have– a say in what happens in the neighborhood.

In an earlier interview Matchett said, “We want responsible development. We want development that leaves a progression, that does not destroy the home values of those homes that were there.”

“We are constantly letting developers come in here and over-develop, and then we’ve already got poor and suffering infrastructures that do not get addressed. So, then we the homeowners, have to deal with it every day,” he said.

While Johnson has stated that he supported Gay’s intent in establishing community-driven planning, he told the Jacksonville Daily Record that he had concerns that forming the review board would trigger the creation of boards in other regions that would form a “hydra, or a monster that has a head of a development review board in every part of the city.” 

In that same article he said, “That’s a path that does not lead to equity or improvement, but it leads to confusion and inconsistency. “I believe instead, the answer is yes with collaboration and listening and building together.” 

Currently, Commission members make recommendations to City Council on zoning and land-use matters. It also has final authority on such matters as exceptions, variances and waivers of minimum distance requirements from schools and churches for operations to obtain liquor licenses. The commission covers the entire city except for Downtown, where the Downtown Development Review Board largely serves a comparable role. 

Planning Commission recommendations go to the Council Land Use and Zoning Committee (LUZ), of which Johnson is a member. LUZ then makes recommendations to the full Council. 

In addition to structural changes, Johnson also recommends that the Planning Commission consider holding some of its meetings during evening hours. The commission currently meets at 1 p.m. two Thursdays a month. 

Johnson asked the Planning Commission to review his proposal. Commissioners accepted the plan without comment.