Community members had the opportunity to express concerns about the impact of the school’s construction effort on the back of its property.
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Months of built up frustrations for some neighbors in Jacksonville Beach made their way out into the open air Friday
A few Jacksonville Beach city council members made it clear they’ve received no shortage of concerned emails about the Discovery School on South 15th Street since last Fall – stemming from this construction on the backside of the school.
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So, they figured the best way to handle it would be to get everyone in a room together with a special called meeting to hash it out.
“It’s difficult to really understand unless you’ve been there,” said Donnie Brzuska, who lives near the Discovery School.
Brzuska has spent months trying to get Jacksonville Beach city leaders to understand what his experience is like living near the Discovery School, and the work underway on the back of the property.
“There’s constant disruption, constant noise,” said Brzuska. “It’s not just about the school. It’s about what happens after the school leaves.”
Brzuska got the opportunity to express his feelings face to face with almost the entirety of the city council, and he had plenty of neighbors there to back him up.
Their first issue – whether or not the site plan was initially approved to include two story buildings.
“The site plan showed four single-story buildings with the back of the building facing the community about 30 feet away from the boundary line,” said one neighbor during the meeting. “They went to a two story building that is in her backyard.”
City leaders expressed, regardless of what was in the plan, there isn’t much that can be done about a building that’s already there.
“Going forward, that we lighten the load and additional abuses on the community,” said Jacksonville Beach City Council Member John Wagner.
That brought the neighbors to their second point – the construction going on behind the school on a possible athletic field, and whether or not if that was what was initially approved.
“Can there be any conditions around that, like not rolling bleachers,” said another neighbor.
City leaders conveyed they can’t stop what’s already under construction, but they can take steps like widening sidewalks, adding curbs to deter parking in some areas and enforcing crossing guards.
And they hope to use this as an opportunity to look at how development is approved in Jacksonville Beach.
“Things that are in that land development code that have led us to where we are today and see if there are opportunities to avoid those in the future,” said Wagner.
“I think this was a good release for our community because we’ve been heard,” said Brzuska as the meeting wrapped up. “You know where we stand.”
One council member suggested getting a group from the school, a group from the community and a group from the council together to hash out how they can keep the expansion from being an impact on the neighborhood, particularly after school hours and all the weekends.
The school told First Coast News they didn’t have a comment on the meeting happening Friday.