Goodwin House event venue violated zoning laws
St. Johns Quarter Historic District residents are concerned about a picturesque riverfront event venue at 1819 Goodwin St. called the Goodwin House and owned by Andy Allen’s Corner Lot Development.
Corner Lot purchased the historic multi-family residential property across the street property this year and neighbors fear it could become short-term housing for guests renting the riverfront venue.
Until recently the Goodwin House was operating in violation of its residential-office zoning rules and was thus cited by the city.
“CLDG HQ2 Holdings LLC operated an outdoor event business in an RO zoning district, a non-permitted land use and is a violation of the zoning code Chapter 656,” reads the May 13 statement of violation and request for hearing from G. Martin Kennelly of city’s Historic Preservation Section.
City of Jacksonville code enforcement staff has been working with the property owner to document the violation and company representatives indicated they may seek a rezoning to become compliant and continue operations.
Company representatives Michael Ryan and Billy Zeits said about a month ago they were early in the planning process to identify a more appropriate zoning designation for the Goodwin House property but once one is finalized they intend to meet with city officials in an effort to be good neighbors with others living and working in St. Johns Quarter.
A much larger neighboring four-story multi-family residential complex was developed in the early 2000s with PUD, or planned unit development, zoning. The PUD zoning designation is a flexible category in which permitted uses and rules are negotiated between city officials and developers. Corner Lot could seek such zoning for the Goodwin House property.
Corner Lot’s Mr. Zeits met with Mr. Martin on May 9, emails between the parties that day and the following day show.
“This Thursday [May 12] will be our final event until our rezoning application is reviewed and finalized,” said Mr. Zeits. “We do not want to use any more of staff’s time or cause any further instances for staff to have to come out to our site. We understand the volume of work that all COJ staff is facing and would like to ensure that everyone’s time is well spent.”
“As you may know,” said Mr. Martin, “I have heard from several folks in the neighborhood. I have also spoke with Alan back in December and issued a Notice of Violation, hoping to resolve this issue.”
Mr. Zeits said his company would like to avoid a code enforcement hearing before a special magistrate, who after confirming the code violation can levy financial penalties if the violation persists, and where neighbors may feel compelled to give testimony in a public forum.
In late May residents were working on a position paper in opposition to the potential rezoning away from residential and office uses. They said because Corner Lot has yet to declare what zoning it will seek for the Goodwin House property, they’re reserving public comment for now.
Still, they’re considerably concerned that whatever zoning and uses for the Goodwin House property are eventually sought, besides the current restrictions to residential and office uses, will constitute illegal “spot zoning” or zoning that permits uses that conflict with those around it.
Generally, zoning laws function to keep similar property uses together to avoid such conflicts.
Neighbors expect Corner Lot to file for new zoning in July or August.
The more than 6000-square-foot Goodwin House overlooking the St. Johns River was built in 1913. It’s valued by the property appraiser at roughly $1.1 million but sold in November 2020 for some $1.75 million.
By Joel Addington
Resident Community News
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