Metro Jacksonville Rail Plan Already Spurring Development?

[southwood]

Anyone know where this subject (development of Philips at Wishart/95) stands? The Jerry Hamm dealership property is now completely vacant...wondering if there has been any official discussion of this project or if there is any plan for community consultation?

[southwood]

ok...looks as though something is happening in the area that this discussion thread has been talking about. As of this week, there are "road closed" barriers around the entire area.

Anyone know if demolition is about to take place and what, if any, real permitted plans are on the books???

[Jason]

I haven't heard of any actual plans.  I thought this was still in the concept stages.

[thelakelander]

I'm not aware of any rezonings, development approvals or marketing taking place for this development.  Whoever has purchased the property could just be clearing it, which is something that happens quite often in Jacksonville.

[Steve]

I'm not aware of any rezonings, development approvals or marketing taking place for this development.  Whoever has purchased the property could just be clearing it, which is something that happens quite often in Jacksonville.

We do that a lot - especially downtown.

[southwood]

Neighbors on River Oaks are getting vibes that this project is moving forward...fast.  And they're NOT HAPPY.

Anyone know which councilman has this property in his/her district? Or who else we can contact to get details and determine if there has been ANY consideration given to the barely one-lane street they're planning to send hundreds/thousands of cars down?

[thelakelander]

That thin strip is a part of District 9.  Warren Jones is the councilman for this property's area.  You can also contact the City's traffic engineering department, but I seriously don't think they have approvals to do anything other than possibly clearing the property.

[Diego Martin]

Neighbors on River Oaks are getting vibes that this project is moving forward...fast.  And they're NOT HAPPY.

I live on River Oaks Road but West of Hendricks. I have not heard of these plans, and merely stumbled upon them through this forum. Was this ever featured on the Fla Times-Union? Seems that I have missed it, if it ever were.

Please enlighten me... with money as tight as it is, and with similar previously well-trumpeted plans like East San Marco being indefinitely shelved, who is the major backer of this project??

[ConcernedCitizen]

This is a well-established neighborhood with hard working people whose families have lived in the area for decades. What about the folks who live there? It sounds like no meetings with local residents have been scheduled or held.

I can't promise that it's correct, but try this contact info (and please update the forum here if you find out anything worth reporting back):

  Firststar Development, Inc.
  Stephen R. Cissel
  230 Canal Blvd
  Suite 4
  Ponte Vedra, FL 32082

[thelakelander]

I don't think its gotten that far yet.  From what I've been told, this development is in the early conceptual phases of design.  Before they can really move forward, they will be required to go through public hearings where local residents will be able to voice their concerns.  In the meantime, local residents should contact their council representative to notify him of their concerns.

[southwood]

In May, I sent a public info request to both councilmen -- Shad and Jones -- whose districts will be affected by this development. Here is what Shad's assistant wrote in reply:

The legislation for this project has not been filed, yet. As soon as it is, we will let you know. The only thing that has been turned in so far is a pending road-closure application for Mitchell Place (District 9). The attached documents, that were given to us by the developer, are probably the same ones you are seeing on Metro Jacksonville. There are no other public records at this time. Please give us a call if you have any questions.

Me again...River Oaks Road is NOT wide enough to handle the traffic increase, regardless of whether or not the rail component is included. The neighbors are organizing to see that this project, if it begins to get legs, takes that reality into consideration. If you're not convinced, drive it one day at 5:15 p.m., after a train has backed up traffic and there are cars legally parked on River Oaks. You can barely get through the maze. Add thousands more cars and it'll be a nightmare of traffic AND extremely dangerous for the families with children who live on River Oaks.

The closure of River Oaks at the RR tracks is the best alternative, though a decision of this sort will be fought by drivers who use it as a cut-through to Phillips/I-95. When the time comes, those of us on the east/River Oaks side will kindly ask all those cut-throughers if they'd like to see this sort of traffic increase on their own residential  street. It's a legitimate question, and one that should cause the city to carefully revisit their traffic planning for this major development. 

[funbank]

I live on Mitchell Place at the north end of the block and was amazed that they closed all the access around Jerry Hamm.  At first I was told that the streets could not be closed until the city turned them over to the developer after all of the permitting and council approval.  After I called another city department I was told that the streets would only be closed temporarily until site testing for envirionmental was done.  I told them that the streets were closed and that was unacceptable.  Service ST is now open but the other streets to the south up to River Oaks are closed.  This is crap.  I sent an email to Warren Jones on May 8 and have yet to receive a reply.  My end of the street has very many rehabed houses and has become quite nice.  I hate that this mess is coming.  We were just getting rid of the street walkers and now we will have all this noise.  There are already houses that have been sold to this developer that are now boarded up awaiting demolition. I do like the transportation aspect of the plan but all of that retail will be hard to swallow next to what is now a quiet neighborhood.  I think the city and the developer should be more forthcoming on plans since they will be affecting the current homeowners in the area.   I guess the gerrymandered part of district 9 on the southside is not important enough for Mr Jones to respond.

[long time san marcoan]

Being a long time resident of San Marco in a home adjoining FEC Park, I am amazed at the proposals that include this park and neighborhood.  I grew up in the same home that I am currently living in and attended Southside Grammar School and Landon High School.  FEC Park was used by Landon as a practice field for football and also to a limited degree for baseball.  This has always been a passive park for the neighborhood with a large flat area.  In recent years, the park has become a place where people from other neighborhoods are coming to play football, soccer, and other sports.  The park really has only a limited amount of parking and the parking is on streets adjacent to the park and adjacent to homes in the neighborhood.  Often, the cars parked on River Oaks Road near the railroad tracks cause a bottleneck and unsafe condition.  In the period when I was growing up, everyone walked to the park including the football team from Landon.

Now we are seeing the beginnings of a proposal to possibly develop the park further, put in a transit station for the Skyway Express, and even build an overpass over the railroad tracks.  The proposals that are being put forward even mention the ability of people coming to the area and walking to the San Marco shopping area.  If you frequent San Marco, you know that there is no parking available now and most of the restaurants do not have space available to sit and eat during peak times even if you find a parking space or get there by walking.  We also have an under utilized parking garage on Kings Avenue and Skyway Express station and we are talking about extending the Skyway Express and building another station about one mile away.  In theory and when you look at models, proposals, and drawings, this looks good to a lot of people, especially a developer trying to build a major development. 

If the San Marco development by giants like Regency and St. Joe is on hold or delayed because of the current economic situation, why would this new development be any better to proceed at this time?  Are we being prepared to give government assistance to the new development?  Is the new development going to be filled with low income housing or public assistance housing?  Are we as neighbors to the project not being fully informed until it is too late or almost impossible to make a difference in the type or scale of the new project?  When a previous proposal was made to put a dog run in FEC Park, I was informed that San Marco Preservation had signed off on the project as well as Art Shad, the local councilman.  I was surprised and asked if there was any discussions with the neighbors residing on or adjacent to the park.  I was told that the neighbors were contacted that lived adjacent to the park.  This is not true.  I have lived at the same address for all of my life and no one contacted me or made an attempt to contact me. 

A development of this magnitude needs to be fully discussed with public, private, and government groups before decisions are made.  Back room deals that involve taxpayer dollars should not happend.  We need to make sure that any government participation in this or any project like this is above board and in the sunshine.  Our city government is looking for ways to provide necessary services with limited tax revenues available and we always seem to have money for pet projects or government assistance to private projects. 

[JeffreyS]

Road and parking improvements are something residential developers seem to go overboard with in northeast Florida.  If you are have traffic issues you can not get a developer in fast enough.  The city ignores areas where no development is going on.  The developer is the only way you will see infrastructure improvement.  Consider supporting this as the means to your ends.  This development allows you to work with the management and growth of the area.  The Craig feild people believe they have won but it is just a stay.  When the development is happening is when you can make demands.

[thelakelander]

JeffreyS has a point.  If any improvements need to be made in this area, this is a chance for local residents in the surrounding area to work with the city and the developer to create some type of development that benefits all parties, especially those existing residents impacted by the proposed development. 

At this point, it does not seem like this development is far along.  Before they can do anything worthwhile (other than buying the property, closing streets and demolishing the existing structures), they'll have to rezone the land, which will require public hearings.  River Oaks residents will have their say in what eventually happens with this site.