City Council Approves Skinner Development
Over the objection of many nearby residents, the Jacksonville City Council has approved a new multi-family housing project on Old Kings and St. Augustine Roads.
The proposed development includes 280 apartments in nine, three-story buildings along with 100 two-story townhouses. It also includes a clubhouse, two pools, a dog park, and social areas. It includes a retention pond design to overcompensate for runoff to ease stormwater concerns. There would be two entrances to the property. One on Old Kings and the other on Dupont Avenue.
The property has been owned by the Skinner family for decades. It has been sitting empty since 1996.
At an October town hall meeting family spokesman Chip Skinner said after the death of his father Arthur Chester Skinner Jr in 2020, none of the family members were interested in living on the property. They decided to sell the property to a developer who they believed would find the best use for the site.
“We found ourselves with 30 acres of land and 24 property owners,” he said. “We wanted it to be a quality development. Something that would add positively to the neighborhood and after much due diligence we selected the Rangewater team.”
Attorney Cyndy Trimmer represents the developers. She said they have made numerous concessions to help ease the concerns of nearby residents and they are willing to make more of them if possible. The current zoning allows 20 units per acre. Rangewater is proposing 13. The 30-foot setback will be established from the lot line to the adjacent residential development.
Traffic engineers said according to their studies the development will not overburden Old Kings or St. Augustine Roads, both, they said, are under capacity.
Residents said despite what the studies showed, traffic in the area is already bad and the development will only make things worse.
Marty Steinberg is the president of the San Jose Parks Neighborhood Association. He said DuPont Road is already being used as a cut-through to San Jose Boulevard.
“It’s a racetrack,” he said. “There is no enforcement (since the police substation on Powers closed). We are taking in some cases our lives into our hands.”
Kevin Seacrest lives next door to the development. He’s concerned that while the developers will be planting new trees to replace those lost in the buffer, it will be years before they are big enough to provide any real privacy.
“What they are going to install behind us are these little saplings that are going to die from neglect and careless maintenance anyway. There’s going to be nothing left between us and the apartments,” he said.
Some neighbors have argued that the apartments will bring in people who could cause trouble in the community. Rangewater spokesman Mike Oliver said the monthly rents projected to be $1400-$1600 for the one-bedroom apartments, $1800-$2000 for two bedrooms, and $2300-$2500 for the townhouses should ensure only high-end tenants will be moving in.
Council members spent about 90 minutes questioning the developers and hearing from residents at a Land Use and Zoning Committee hearing on Nov. 16, but in the end, most of them believed the development would be the ideal use for the Skinner property.
LUZ Chair Rory Diamond said he was relying on the findings of city staff members that the development will not be a detriment to the area. “I understand you are all passionate about your neighborhood,” he said to the opponents who attended the meeting. Diamond also said there are some good things going for the neighbors. “This is a classic infill project,” he said. “Whatever it is zoned for could have happened right behind you…and the engineers who designed this are some of the best in the world.”
The developers hope to start construction soon.
By Kevin Meerchaert
Resident Community News
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