JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A group of Jacksonville residents filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city over the construction of a huge medical examiner’s office and forensic lab near their homes in the Brentwood area.
The group alleges the nearly 51,000 square foot facility was rammed through the planning process without proper citizen notification in violation of city ordinance.
The mortuary facility is located on North Davis Street, near the intersection of Golfair Boulevard and Interstate 95.
Construction on the morgue is well underway. Its opponents are worried about it bringing illness, waste products, and traffic, especially as it’s located just feet from a schoolyard and people’s houses.
To Lydia Bell, who is the president of the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association, the morgue being built in her Brentwood neighborhood is a sign of decay for her community and for transparency.
“We can’t live our life because we’re constantly fighting people that we pay to make our community as safe as anybody else’s community. And that’s all we want. We want to be be able to live in our community like anybody else,” Bell said.
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At a news conference Thursday, it was announced that she and more than a dozen other residents are suing the city of Jacksonville over the building’s construction.
They’re seeking damages, alleging the morgue will reduce property values and that the city skirted its own ordinance to build the project without properly notifying residents.
The suit also alleges the city began construction before the zoning had been properly approved.
“It was basically agreed within the city without any input from members of the community,” said Neil Henrichsen, who is the attorney representing the plaintiffs.
To some members of the community, the building’s unwanted construction echoes a history of discriminatory government policy.
“You’re not doing it in the white neighborhood. This would not even be considered if it even came up as a conversation, but when you’re talking about a Black neighborhood? ‘Oh well. It don’t matter… they won’t do nothing.’ Those days are over,” said Brentwood resident Ameena Shareef, who is one of the plaintiffs.
On the steps of City Hall and in the lawsuit residents are making sure their voices are heard now and pushing for more transparency.
“Here’s the message: We will fight you,” Shareef said.
News4JAX reached out to City Hall for comment, and at the time of this publication, we hadn’t heard back.