JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There was a big turnout as more than 20 North Creek residents packed a Jacksonville planning commission meeting on Thursday where the commission approved the rezoning, making the proposed Chick-fil-A restaurant one step closer to opening in the Oceanway neighborhood.
The controversial plan to build the popular restaurant has been met with constant opposition as residents are concerned about the troubles the establishment could bring.
The meeting comes after some neighbors said they were blindsided by recent meetings on the issue. There was a meeting on Tuesday that some didn’t know about it until they saw news reports.
They say they were told the next meeting on the proposed restaurant was going to happen on Thursday and weren’t aware of the Land Use and Zoning meeting on Tuesday.
“I am feeling deceived and disheartened by that continued either deception, intentional, or I don’t know. You make a mistake once, OK, you take it at face value. Now, two out of two meetings, we have been given incorrect information. It is not a good look to the city, whether it is incompetence or corruption. I am not sure. But I am very disgusted by this whole situation,” Christine Brundage said.
Residents said they had to scramble to get to the meeting on Tuesday and once they did they had to sit for more than five hours before members began discussing the restaurant.
This time around residents said they were ready to speak out.
Tracy Terry has been fighting a potential fast-food restaurant being built next to her house for years. She fought when the property was planned to make way for a McDonald’s, and she fought it a year ago when the property owner tried to bring a Chick-fil-A but that application was denied.
Now Terry is continuing that fight out of concern for her property value and the effects it would have on the neighborhood.
“I really don’t want to lean outside my window to take an order. It’s just that close and with everything that’s going to be happening, the lights and the construction and all this other stuff that goes on,” Terry said.
One condition of the rezoning is that the city has to conduct a traffic study in the area. Dana Griffith hopes the study is done before the project progresses.
Tom Ingram, the attorney for the project, said building the restaurant would relieve the traffic at the Chick-fil-A at the River City Market Place.
“Chick-fil-A has a strong interest in this site,” Ingram said. “They believe this plan will better accommodate their customers and the community and their team.
Neighbors said they don’t want the restaurant because they’re concerned about traffic and the safety of students walking to and from First Coast High School.
They also say the restaurant would use the entrance to the North Creek subdivision as an access road for customers.
This is the second time the developer has tried to bring a Chick-fil-A to the area.
A similar effort was denied last year.
After Thursday, there are two other scheduled meetings on Feb. 13 and Feb. 21.
A final vote is set for Feb. 27.