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West Side residents oppose proposed RLD-60 rezoning, cite stormwater, septic and traffic impacts
Summary
Residents at a West Side community meeting urged the City Council member to oppose a nearby rezoning to RLD-60, citing missing site plans, increased stormwater runoff after land clearing and new townhome development, and long-term septic and traffic impacts.
Residents from a West Side neighborhood told a City Council member they opposed a developer's rezoning application (seeking RLD-60) and described what they said were missing site plans and potential stormwater impacts after recent land clearing and townhome construction nearby.
A resident told the council member the developer did not file a civil/site plan with the application and did not appear at the CPAC meeting. The resident said most lots in the adjacent neighborhood are larger than 60 feet (the resident said averages around 102 feet) and that the proposed RLD-60 would be out of character. The resident said recent clearing for a Kia dealership expansion and a 48-unit townhome project removed woodland that previously fed a retention pond and that the change could raise the pond level by about 2 feet in a heavy storm, based on their informal calculations.
"They have taken almost 10 acres of woodlands that feed it to the retention pond there, and turned them all into primarily hard surfaces," the resident said, adding concern about flooding toward the St. Johns River during heavy rains.
Other residents raised citywide concerns about septic systems where infill and subdivision are converting single-family lots into multiple rental units. Denise Cook, who identified herself and said her address was on file, noted that some subdivisions or increases in density require tying into city sewer when a development exceeds a certain threshold; she said zoning and comp plan rules limit what the council member can change once an application is submitted.
The council member said she would review the evidence submitted by residents and convene further community meetings with the landowner and neighbors, reiterating that she had not taken a position and would evaluate "competent substantial evidence" presented in the quasi-judicial zoning process.
Separately, residents and an HOA president raised problems with heavy truck parking, blocked drains and road damage in parts of the West Side; the council member and staff suggested filing service requests through the city's MyJax portal as a first step and said code enforcement and traffic engineering would be asked to follow up.
