An attempt by City Councilman Mike Gay to create a specialized development review board for Northeast Jacksonville has failed. In Tuesday’s meeting, City Council members voted 10-7 against Ordinance 2024-0851 that would have given people in the defined area more of a voice on how development is conducted by specifying that anyone wanting to build or develop would work with the review board instead of the Jacksonville Planning Commission. The review board would have operated on a 12-month trial basis and would have included five people who live in the area.
The review board would have provided recommendations on rezoning requests 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. Gay is Councilman for District 2, which includes Northeast Jacksonville.
Gay first introduced the ordinance in October. The proposed ordinance was unanimously rejected (7-0) in January by the Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee citing apprehensions that it would duplicate the work of the Jacksonville Planning Commission and could come with added costs for staffing and support.
Taking the committee concerns into account, Gay reintroduced a revamped version of the proposal to the Council Tuesday, but it was not enough to convince 10 council members who voted against the ordinance. Gay insisted the bill would not create another layer of government and added that existing zoning rules and codes will be followed.
Gay emphasized in a news interview that the community is not against development. In speaking about the ordinance previously, Gay added, “This will bring the citizens, developers, and the city together for there is no better government than when the citizens are engaged.”
That comment was reiterated by James Matchett, a resident who lives in the boundary area. Matchett, who spoke during a public meeting held downtown Monday, wanted to be clear that he was not against development and the review board, if created, would give people in the community something they rarely have– a say in what happens in their 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.
The creation of the review board would also have catered to a more flexible meeting agenda that could have allowed for more involvement from the community
Meetings would have been scheduled for 5 p.m. versus the meetings held by the Planning Commission, which are scheduled for 1 p.m. Another change would have been the meeting location. Originally, meetings were to be held in the community, but that was changed to the Ed Ball building, the same location as the Planning Commission, allowing for the administration to save time and money.
One Councilman, Joe Carlucci (District 5), voting against the proposal stated while he liked the concept in theory, he felt staying with a single planning commission was the way to go.
“I think we, as a Council and the district council members, can be more selective and more intentional about who we put on that planning commission,” Carlucci said in an interview with News4Jax. “I don’t believe there should be 14 different planning commissions for the entire city. I think it’s working well right now.”
Gay told Eye that the failure of the ordinance was a small hurdle, but no matter what happened he feels all the effort and energy brought awareness to the problems about development in the northeast quadrant.
“We will come back in some way because I will stay with the cause at hand and keep pushing,” Gay said. “This is not the same city that it was when we consolidated, and we have to make some changes.”
Gay explained that the area outlined in the northeast quadrant is one of the last major frontiers of Jacksonville to get developed. “This is not just about home development; it is about protecting our industrial sanctuaries,” he said. “We need to look to the future and be serious about it because once this area is gone, it’s gone.”
Gay said the idea about the review board was not new and that he came up with the idea based on the Downtown Development Review Board (DDRB) that is already in existence.
“The DDRB controls development in the downtown area and this plan was similar,” Gay said. “This plan would have supported so many people who were asking for help, but when we asked, we didn’t get enough votes.”
In an interview with Eye, Joe McClure, a member of the Coalition to Build a Better Jacksonville, a group that actively advocates for communities all around Jacksonville, said that the people of Jacksonville are becoming aware that they have absolutely no power to stop undesirable development in their neighborhoods.
“The people are watching how their elected officials vote on issues that are vitally important to them,” McClure said. “Be aware, this is probably going to be an issue at the next election. The people are waking up, and they are beginning to pay attention to who is helping them to get things done to protect their own neighborhoods.”
Those voting yes on the ordinance included Gay and Council Members Michael Boylan, Tyrona Clark-Murray, Rory Diamond, Terrance Freeman, Will Lahnen and Ron Salem. Voting no were Council President Randy White, Vice President Kevin Carrico and members Ken Amaro, Raul Arias, Joe Carlucci, Ju’Coby Pittman, Nick Howland, Matt Carlucci, Rahman Johnson and Chris Miller.
