Pine Forest parents start foundation to raise school funds
Parents from Pine Forest School of the Arts, one of the city’s only arts magnet schools, have established a 501(c) 3 foundation to help bridge funding gaps at neighborhood elementary school located just off Emerson Street in San Marco.
Tennis courts closed, local playgrounds on the mend
Broken equipment and facilities at several local parks have the city in repair mode.
One of the most expensive to fix will be significant cracks in two asphalt tennis courts
Property re-zonings heat up San Marco development
By Susanna P. Barton
Resident Community News
Several key rezoning applications hit the Jacksonville City Council in late April — including two projects that could help invigorate the northern stretch of Hendricks Avenue.
District 5 City Councilman Lori Boyer introduced ordinance 2012-272 for a PUD rezoning application at San Marco Station during a late April council meeting. A public hearing before the city’s Land Use and Zoning Committee was expected May 1.
The property, under development and owned by local resident Ed Ash, is known as the San Marco Train Station — and in neighborhood circles as the future home Panera Bread. The San Marco Train Station plans call for a 14,000-square-foot retail center, an outparcel and a 1,200-square-foot hexagonal building, as well as space for 80 parking places.
The recently filed rezoning involves modifying the site plan to accommodate a new entrance to the property from Hendricks Avenue, “to permit construction of additional square footage in two new buildings near Hendricks (one being designed for Panera’s), to add additional land and parking on Naldo and to make other changes in permitted uses, landscaping and design,” read a summary from Boyer’s office. Developers seek to preserve the 100-year-old South Jacksonville Utility Building on the property. After meeting with Ash, representatives of San Marco Preservation — which maintains an office adjacent to the site at the South Jacksonville City Hall building — voted to support the application.
There’s no word yet on timing for construction, although site work is already underway on the property.
Additional rezoning legislation came to the city council last month from the developers of 1461 Hendricks, site of the proposed Aardwolf Brewing taproom and brewery. Currently, the property — the old Moyer tile building on Hendricks Avenue between the railroad tracks and Cedar Street — is zoned Industrial Light or IL. Aardwolf Brewing is being planned by Preben Olsen and associate Michael Payne, former brewer at Brewer’s Pizza in Orange Park. The brewery would be a tenant in the building, according to Erik Olsen, principal engineer with Olsen Associates Inc. Erik Olsen is assisting Preben, his son, through the development process. The building’s 2,000-square-foot showroom on Hendricks would be available for lease by another entity through building owner, San Marco Station LLC.
The PUD application has been filed and a public hearing before the LUZ committee is expected June 5.
Olsen said they are designing two major facility components at this time including the tap room and a warehouse brew area. He does not expect to make any changes to the building’s historic Hendricks Avenue facade with the exception of new signage.
Olsen said the group is ordering brew equipment “which must be fabricated,” he said.
“With the explosion of craft brewery construction nationally there no longer the opportunity to acquire used equipment which normally can be a major time saver,” Olsen said.
While time is of the essence, Olsen said the goal is to get the tap room operational by football season. Aardwolf partners are eager to be part of the emerging craft beer scene in Jacksonville and have gotten great community feedback for the project.
“The amount of positive response that Michael Payne and Preben Olsen have received from San Marco specifically and the beer community of Jacksonville in general has been gratifying to say the least,” Olsen said.
In other neighborhood rezoning news, a PUD to PUD rezoning application has been filed at Old San Jose on the River. According to a summary from Boyer’s office, the request “reduces overall density and would allow development of single-family lots in areas previously identified as multifamily and parking.”
Delays for San Marco Streetscape?
Completion date a work in progress
Will construction delays force the San Marco Boulevard
roadwork to finish perilously close to the 2012 holiday shopping
season? It depends on who you ask.
Gettin’ Jiggy with It – learning tips and tricks
The Mudville Grille was the place to be if you’re a lure angler in the waterways of Northeast Florida. Captains
Spring break not only time to enjoy outdoor activities with the family
By Ted and Nathan Miller
Last month was spring break. With the kids out of school for a week and their sports activities put on hold, it was the perfect time to tell them to pack a bag and take off to a favorite destination for a much needed break.
Our great state of Florida offers many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. From fishing to hunting and camping to canoeing, it is virtually impossible to get bored around here. There are activities and destinations for everyone — and many spots are just a few hours away. Let’s take a quick tour from the northeast to the south and back up the west coast.
Amelia Island is a about a 2.5-hour boat run from Jacksonville. Free dockage at the city dock allows you and the family to jump off the boat for the one minute walk to the historic district of Fernandina Beach. Kids will enjoy window-shopping and catching a scoop or two of ice cream at one of the several parlors in the city center. There are many great places to grab lunch as well.
From Fernandina Beach, you can run south down the east coast of Florida to our nation’s oldest city — St. Augustine. At this historic waterfront stop, you can enjoy an inexpensive stay at one of several marina resorts. With a late afternoon walk along the docks, you will witness boats unloading the day’s catch and watch the sun set behind the tuna towers.
Next, we head further south through Crescent Beach, Matanzas Inlet, and Ponce Inlet and into Cape Canaveral. The fishing in this region can be the best in the Southeast. This time of year offers an incredible bull-red run off the coast where the sea turns red with thousands of redfish or you can chase packs of free-swimming cobia heading north for their annual migration.
Looking for a longer trip? Travel further south to Stuart, Vero and Palm Beach. These areas offer a wide range of lodging from 4-star resorts to quaint little fish camps and marina resorts with private dockage. With more than 100 inshore spoil islands in the ICW and the gulf stream being only minutes away from the inlet, this part of Florida offers some of the most accessible inshore and offshore fishing around.
Then there’s Miami and the Keys. With its gin-colored water and local restaurants and marinas, the area boasts some of the freshest fish tacos and cold beverages you can find. When you are through exploring the Gold Coast, travel up the west coast past the Everglades, 10,000 Islands, Naples and Ft. Myers. This gorgeous part of the state offers some of the most beautiful inshore angling in the world. Be sure to use the tracking devise on your GPS: with every canal and mangrove island (over 10,000 of them) looking the same, it can be difficult to find your way out of there.
Heading up the west coast, you will find one of the greatest cheeseburgers the state has to offer. Travel a little further north up the Cultural Coast past Sanibel and Captiva to Cabbage Key at mile marker 60 along the ICW. The dock masters are friendly and will work hard to squeeze your boat into a slip (and they do accept tips). After lunch, head northward to Boca Pass and spend a few hours watching the mayhem and the cluster of agitated anglers tarpon fishing jockeying for position over “The Hole”. This is an area in the pass where the depth goes from 35 down to 74 feet, holding hundreds of fish.
Next — it’s Boca Grande, an area a few miles north of the hole. There, you can leave your boat at the city dock and take a walk into Boca Grande for some ice cream. Golf carts are available for rent as well. Boca Grande is full of great places to eat. A little further north is Gasparilla Island. You can only access the island by boat and truly has one of the most beautiful inlets around.
Traveling further north we enter into the scallop capital of the world in Steinhatchee (STEEN-hat-chee) and Keaton Beach. This family activity has been referred to as ‘easter egg hunting for grown-ups’. I tend to agree. A few recommendations: Pay someone to clean your scallops. Eat dinner at Fiddler’s Restaurant. Buy a koozie at the Sea Hag Marina. Heading further north and west along the panhandle you reach Apalachicola, Port St. Joe, Panama City, Destin and Pensacola. These areas offers some of the whitest beaches, one of the best cobia fishing migrations and some of the best bottom fishing in close proximity to the inlets around. You can fill a fish box full of snapper and grouper (when it’s open) only a few miles offshore. And if you search hard enough, you may be able to find a local restaurant to prepare your catch for you.
Happy exploring.
Prudential goes back to its roots with party
Prudential Network Realty opened in 1988, and its first Jacksonville office was in Epping Forest Yacht Club. More than 23 years later, the company went back to its roots for a 2012 Reunion Celebration. The event gathered 55 real estate professionals and employees who have been with the company between 10 and 23 years. The program included a special presentation highlighting photographs of the team from 1988 to the present and time to celebrate with shared memories and laughter.
Garden Club ceremony honors memory, 90th
The Garden Club of Jacksonville celebrated it’s 90th birthday on March 22. Club leaders and many past presidents
