HARC grants relief for U.S. Hotel remodel to add elevator shaft, increasing height limit to 39 feet

The Jacksonville Historic & Architectural Review Commission unanimously approved File No. 2026-023 on March 25, granting a Certificate of Appropriateness and Relief from Standards to remodel the historic U.S. Hotel at 125 East California Street and to construct a new elevator shaft on the building’s rear exterior with a requested increase in the maximum height allowance from 35 feet to 39 feet.

Planning Director Ian J. Foster presented the staff report and answered commissioners’ questions. The applicant, Peter Britt Garden Music and Arts Festival Association, Inc., was represented by Abby McKee, who introduced the project agents. Jane Alexander presented design slides; Jerome White addressed code issues related to stairs and the elevator; George Kramer discussed the historic architectural design plan.

No members of the public testified. Vice Chair Ray Wedel moved to approve the Certificate of Appropriateness and Relief from Standards, adopting the applicant’s Findings of Fact as supplemented by the staff report and approving the proposal subject to staff‑recommended conditions 1–7; Commissioner Jack Akin seconded. The motion passed unanimously with no opposition.

The commission’s motion found that the proposal complies with the applicable standards in Chapters 17 and 18 of the Jacksonville Unified Development Code, subject to conditions of approval 1–7 as recommended by staff. The record notes that the application sought a four‑foot increase to the local height limit to accommodate the elevator shaft; the commission approved that relief as part of the conditional Certificate of Appropriateness.

The meeting continued with a brief planning director update on UGB discussions and adjourned at 6:07 p.m.