A.G. Gancarski
Tuesday’s meeting of the Jacksonville City Council involved the body’s second attempt to finally resolve the zoning for a proposed microbrewery in the Urban Core’s Springfield neighborhood.
The holdup? The microbrewery, to be called “6th and Main”, is within a 1,500-foot minimum distance of several churches and a school.
Such proximity violates city ordinance and required a waiver of the distance requirement.
The Land Use and Zoning committee had to consider the bill for a second time last Tuesday because, after it had passed the first time, it was revealed that not every church within 1,500 feet of the structure had been consulted.
A strong turnout at the committee, coupled with a robust email campaign in favor of the microbrewery, seemed to convince committee members to give 6th and Main the OK by a 4-to-1 margin.
The proprietors agreed to prohibit outdoor service on Wednesdays and Sundays, so as not to impact the church crowd.
However, the real hurdle looked to be the 19-person city council.
Turned out that wasn’t much of a hurdle, however.
By a margin of 15 to 3, the bill was approved: Councilmen Doyle Carter, Bill Gulliford, and John Crescimbeni were the sole dissidents.
