Jacksonville land use committee approves multiple rezonings, clears 71‑unit Garden Street PUD with traffic‑study condition

Jacksonville’s Land Use & Zoning Committee approved a package of rezoning and planned‑unit‑development (PUD) ordinances at its May 6 meeting, including requests to expand commercial uses in an existing business park, allow a 71‑unit single‑family PUD on Garden Street and to add industrial uses at several sites across the city.

Committee members voted unanimously on each final action recorded by the clerk. The meeting included brief staff presentations, applicants’ remarks and several public comments raising traffic and stormwater concerns; the committee attached conditions requiring civil‑review traffic studies in at least two PUDs.

The votes affect properties across Jacksonville: a 32‑acre business park that will carry forward IBP (industrial/business park)‑compatible uses and allow additions such as restaurants, retail and animal‑care facilities; a 16‑acre Garden Street PUD allowing up to 71 single‑family homes; conversions or rezonings to light industrial along Pickettville Road; a proposed charter school conversion of an existing office building; and a two‑acre site slated for a highway maintenance/guardrail company expected to bring roughly 25 jobs.

Planning staff summarized each application and recommended approval when reports found proposals consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and local zoning overlays. Applicants told the committee they had coordinated with staff and, in some cases, nearby neighbors. Where public commenters raised concerns — most prominently on the Garden Street item — the committee required…