Neighborhood News

All the latest news from the neighborhoods in our coverage areas.

Chick-fil-A re-opens with new décor, new drive-thru bypass lane

Chick-fil-A re-opens with new décor, new drive-thru bypass lane

The Chick-fil-A at 4495 Roosevelt Blvd. received a $750,000 facelift during late May and June, temporarily diverting customers from the popular lunchtime restaurant. The renovations in the 4,344-square-foot building included a 242-square-foot addition at the back of the store to house a new freezer and provide more space for the kitchen. It also included interior […]

Infamous St. Johns Avenue S-curve to get reflective road markers

Infamous St. Johns Avenue S-curve to get reflective road markers

A Florida Department of Transportation safety improvement project on St. Johns Avenue is being undertaken during the month of July between Greenwood and Van Wert Avenues. Internally Illuminated Retroreflective Pavement Markers (IIRPMs), also known as “solar RPMs” are an innovative product being piloted on a section of S.R. 211 (St. Johns Avenue) to determine their […]

New homes to be built near San Jose Forest

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 […]

Downtown Dwellers to log volunteer hours in “partnership” with city

The Downtown Dwellers, a group seeking to be the “voice” of the residents living Downtown, has decided to cement its partnership with the Jacksonville Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department by asking its members to log the “volunteer” hours they spend monitoring the Southbank Riverwalk outside of their homes. In a meeting April 28, in […]

City finally funds Riverfront Park bulkhead restoration

Perhaps hearing the frustrations of many San Marco residents, the City of Jacksonville came one step closer to fixing the bulkhead in San Marco’s Riverfront Park when City Council voted unanimously May 9 to appropriate approximately $1.99 million to repair the bulkhead. By passing Ordinance 2017-266, the Council voted to fund the replacement of the […]

Derelict vessel removed, difficult operation completed

Derelict vessel removed, difficult operation completed

In seven hours – spread over two days – the deed was done. Class Action was unceremoniously exhumed from her watery grave in the Ortega River May 11-12 and toted away in pieces on a barge. The operation began around 12:30 p.m. on May 11, as a barge operated by Salonen Marine towed a crane […]

Group denied on appeals, takes restaurant debate to Tallahassee

Dissatisfied with a second ruling by a judge in the 4th Circuit Court, members of a Riverside neighborhood group opposed to having a restaurant put in at the location of a former dry cleaner near their homes is appealing to a higher court in Tallahassee. Almost a year after City Council enacted a bill that […]

Local preservation society donates funds to illuminate park

Local preservation society donates funds to illuminate park

Although some Ortega residents were in the dark about new lights being installed in Cortez Park, the illumination project, which was partially funded by the Ortega Preservation Society, has received mostly positive reviews by the community. While objections came from a few residents who stated anonymously they preferred the “passive” nature of the park and […]