At the February 13 City Council Briefing, Jacksonville Beach City Manager Mike Staffopoulos suggested the City Council consider a Charter amendment to allow increased height on ONE PROPERTY in the Central Business District, the Latham Plaza parking lot property south of Latham Plaza.

As a result, the City Council is considering an amendment to the City Charter to allow a height increase to 55 feet on the Latham Plaza parking lot property to allow the City to redevelop the property with a mixed use development and parking garage. The proposal is to revise the Jacksonville Beach City Charter to contain the additional language highlighted below:

Section 52 – Zoning Authority:

(2)(a) In order to further protect the public health, safety, general welfare, and aesthetics, no new building height shall exceed thirty-five (35) feet, nor shall any existing building be altered to cause it to exceed a building height of thirty-five (35) feet, except the City shall have the power to redevelop the City-owned property bounded by 1st Street North, 2nd Street North, Latham Plaza, and 111 Beach Boulevard to a building height maximum not to exceed 55 feet, for a mixed-use redevelopment project with parking structure.

You can read more here:  HEIGHT LIMIT INCREASE MEMO

FIRST PUBLIC HEARING HELD MARCH 6

At the March 6 City Council meeting, the City Council voted 5-2 to place a referendum on the May 16 ballot to allow the Latham Plaza Parking Lot property to be developed at a height not to exceed 55 feet. Councilmembers Sandy Golding and Bill Horn voted against putting the height increase on the ballot.

SECOND PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 20

There will be a second public hearing on the height increase at the March 20 Council meeting. If approved in the second public hearing, the Charter Amendment will be placed on the May 16, 2023 ballot and voters will have the opportunity to decide if they want to allow the city’s property to be developed as high as 55 feet.

ABOUT THE LATHAM PLAZA PARKING LOT REDEVELOPMENT

The Latham Plaza parking lot property is owned by the City and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has been discussing redeveloping this property to a height of 55 feet with a mixed use development that would include a parking garage, retail as well as residential or office space. The CRA would like to redevelop the Latham Plaza parking lot property through a Public Private Partnership (also known as a P3). The City Manager suggested that voting on the the Charter amendment in May would allow the CRA to move forward with their plan to solicit a development partner for the project.

To learn more about the vision for the downtown, you can read the Vision Plan Amendment to the Downtown Community Redevelopment Plan.

 

PROVIDE YOUR INPUT

The Jax Beach City Council needs to hear from Jax Beach citizens before the March 20 City Council meeting. What do you think about a Charter amendment allowing a 55 foot mixed-use development on the Latham Plaza parking lot property?

To provide comments about the proposed height increase, you can plan to speak at the City Council meeting on Monday, March 20 at 6pm or email the MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL.