A.G. Gancarski
A resolution of support for Local Bill J-1 to be considered by the Duval County Legislative Delegation was the principal item of legislative interest in Tuesday’s Jacksonville City Council Rules and Land Use and Zoning committee meetings.
The goal of the bill is to provide allowances for space and seating requirements in a specialized zone called the Riverside Avondale Commercial Character Areas. The bill would reduce requirements to 100 seats (down from 150) and 1,800 square feet (down from 2,500).
There was a bit of drama in the Rules Committee Agenda Meeting when some were unsure who in fact would sponsor the bill in the state Legislature. Resolution sponsor and local Councilman Jim Love asserted that Rep. Jay Fant, whose state House District contains the “commercial character areas,” was considering sponsoring the bill. If he opted, for whatever reason, not to sponsor it, Reggie Fullwood agreed to sponsor the measure on the state level.
Rules Chair Matt Schellenberg asserted that for Council to consider it on Monday, a sponsor had to be decided.
Allan DeVault, a co-owner of Black Sheep Restaurant in Five Points, wrote to Councilman Bill Gulliford earlier this month, as the initiator of the resolution.
“I write to you as the initiator of Council Resolution 2015-594 which would support a J bill filed with the Duval Delegation to ease restrictions on a bona fide restaurant’s ability to serve patrons a full bar with an SRX license from the Dept. of Business and Professional Regulations. Similar bills have been passed for Downtown and the Southbank, 1987, and 5 Points, 2011, for which I was also the initiator,” DeVault wrote.
“This bill would extend that business opportunity to all the Commercial Character areas of Riverside and Avondale, while also supporting the neighborhood’s goal of supporting smaller business that can more easily adapt to the spatially constricting buildings and spaces a Historic District presents. The Riverside Avondale Preservation board did vote to support this bill,” DeVault added.
Helpfully, DeVault offered a history of the J-Bill.
In 1987, the City of Jacksonville created the first bona fide restaurant related J-Bill for downtown and the Southbank. It allowed for small independent operators to fit in the spatially constricting spaces that historic areas present. It promotes re-use instead of re-build and increases the viability of a restaurant.
In 2011, Black Sheep restaurant proposed to the RAP board to extend the boundaries to the Overlay defined Urban Transition Area (5 Points). The proposal was met with support and questions of why it could not also be done for the commercial character areas of Riverside and Avondale, and the bill passed.
In 2014, a similar bill was proposed by two businesses in the Shoppes of Avondale and again, the board voted to support this measure for all the commercial character areas, not just the Shoppes. That bill was pulled in Tallahassee by a Senator who found the bill too exclusionary.
As Chris Hong noted in the Times-Union, the lobbying effort that squashed the effort a year prior would not manifest this time around.
The bill has strong support in city government. Council President Greg Anderson backs it, and the Mayor’s Office (a close ally of Anderson and Love) is “aware and monitoring it.” And one veteran of council battles noted that previous councils might have offered pushback on a bill designed to expand drinking establishments (because of religious reasons, essentially), the current council was expected to be a bit more moderate in this area.
As well, Five Points Village, a redeveloped area adjacent to the commercial character area at the corner of Margaret and Post streets in scenic Riverside, seeks inclusion in the bill. In recent years, the block of shops has gone (as the saying goes) from “blight to beauty.” Now containing new destination restaurants, just a few years back it contained a rundown laundromat and an Asian buffet restaurant destroyed by fire.
The amendments were approved by Rules, and the bill was also.
Land Use and Zoning considered the measure later on Tuesday afternoon.
With no discussion or drama, the bill moved without objection. From there, it will be considered by Council on Monday, when it must have a sponsor to move forward.
