New homes to be built near San Jose Forest
The wooded landscape fronting the San Jose Forest subdivision on San Jose Boulevard has changed for residents living in the quiet neighborhood near Christopher Creek and Nathan Krestul Park. At the entrance of their subdivision, on six parcels covering just under two acres of land bordering San Jose Boulevard, the San Jose Estates subdivision is being built.
The heavily wooded property has been cleared and a sign advertising “Luxury Single Family Homes starting in the mid $400,000s” stands out front. Included with each home purchase is a membership to Epping Forest Yacht and Country Club, which is located across the street.
According to the Jacksonville Property Appraiser’s website, the property was formerly categorized as “waste land” or “jurisdictional wetlands.” It has since been zoned as RLD-90 (residential low density with 90-foot setbacks). The homes will face San Jose Boulevard with driveways entering onto the busy thoroughfare, said a contractor working to clear the land. He also said the neighbors should be happy the snakes, mosquitoes and other wildlife have been vanquished from the property.
The six parcels comprising the new subdivision have had three separate owners since 2002, with the latest sale coming April 28, 2016, when the property transferred from Christiana Forest SJ LLC to San Jose Estates, LLC for $165,000.
San Jose Estates is a limited liability company owned by Feras Mouded, a real estate broker from Fort Caroline. The property has been cleared by MW Reliable Enterprises, beginning in early April.
Many San Jose Forest residents are unhappy the City of Jacksonville agreed to allow a developer to build on the wetlands in front of their subdivision, and they questioned whether area was buildable as it also lies within a flood zone, said City Council President Lori Boyer who represents San Jose. “We had lots of meetings and I received numerous emails when the permits were issued,” she said.
However, the developer came up with an engineering plan the Public Works Department thought would be appropriate, Boyer said. “Public Works thought it would work, especially if it is sealed properly and designed by an engineer with a storm-water vault under the ground, which will drain the water over to Christopher Creek, and a catch basin where the water is supposed to come down from the lots behind and get into a drain system, so it’s not supposed to flood anything,” she said, noting in spite of this solution many of the neighbors are still unsatisfied.
“The City determined the engineering solution was viable and felt they couldn’t deny the permit,” she said.
By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News
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