{"id":1055,"date":"2025-10-14T01:54:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T01:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/1055\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T01:54:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T01:54:06","slug":"northwest-jacksonville-residents-battle-proposed-housing-on-site-of-former-landfill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/1055\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwest Jacksonville residents battle proposed housing on site of former landfill"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A proposed 84-unit apartment complex near Ribault High School<\/a> in northwest Jacksonville faces mounting opposition, with the city\u2019s planning department recommending denial of the project planned for a former private landfill site.<\/p>\n

City staff found that the proposal \u201cis not consistent with the land development pattern and neighborhood character,\u201d recommending against the development in their official report.<\/p>\n

The over five-acre site along McMillan Avenue has a complex history. <\/p>\n

According to project applicant Michael Herzberg, the property borders Lonnie C. Miller Park, where incinerator ash was likely dumped when the area was used as a city landfill, before it was converted into a park, which has raised significant environmental concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s there,\u201d residents emphasized during a community press conference, where dozens gathered to oppose the project.<\/p>\n

However, Herzberg argues that the location is appropriate given its surroundings.<\/p>\n

Image of what one of the McMillan multi-family buildings would look like. (News4JAX)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are trying to do is create a transition from those intensive uses to the neighborhood itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the developers have made several concessions in response to community feedback, including: <\/p>\n

Reducing the project from 96 to 84 single-bedroom units<\/p>\n

Limited development to 40% of the property<\/p>\n

Planned seven buildings specifically for a 55 and over community<\/p>\n

A key point of contention is the site\u2019s remediation requirements. <\/p>\n

Herzberg explained that making the site usable would require extensive environmental cleanup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to make the site usable is to do a source removal extraction under the eyes of the city as well as FDEP,\u201d Herzberg stated. \u201cThe expense involved would render it impossible to build single-family homes and make it viable for the market area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is why he said single-family homes aren\u2019t planned, and instead the team is opting for multi-family apartments.<\/p>\n

Even with the concessions being explained, longtime residents voiced several concerns during a press conference at the lot on Monday, like: <\/p>\n

Environmental safety and unknown contaminants<\/p>\n

Preference for home ownership over rental properties<\/p>\n

Preservation of neighborhood character<\/p>\n

Traffic on the nearby roads<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to just put any and everything in our community and we\u2019re supposed to take it,\u201d one resident said.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Ju\u2019Coby Pittman opens press conference with members of the District 10 community (News4JAX)<\/p>\n

One community advocate noted, \u201cWe have the best money government can buy, but you can\u2019t buy this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the planning department\u2019s recommendation for denial, the Land Use and Zoning Committee passed both parts of the proposal. The project now moves to a final public hearing at the city council.<\/p>\n

The city council meeting, scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m., is the last opportunity for public input before the council\u2019s decisive vote on the rezoning request. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s stand up for ourselves,\u201d one resident said.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A proposed 84-unit apartment complex near Ribault High School in northwest Jacksonville faces mounting opposition,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1563,1644,116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-1055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-housing","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}