A proposed liquor store at the corner of Golfair Boulevard and Davis Street is less than 200 feet away from KIPP Voice Academy. When a zoning execption for the store was approved in 2020 the school had yet to be built. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 25, 2023 at 1:09 pm
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The proposed package store that raised the ire of Brentwood residents will not open.
Council Member Ju’Coby Pittman has told neighborhood residents the city will buy the property along Golfair Boulevard.
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A funding source for the purchase has not been identified, nor has legislation been introduced to acquire the property, which is less than 200 feet from a school, KIPP Voice Academy.
But during a community conversation Aug. 24 at the Legends Center, Pittman indicated that she would soon look to have legislation introduced to purchase the property.
New4Jax also reported that Pittman told the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association on Sept. 18 that the city would buy the property.
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Pittman did not return multiple requests for comment for this story. She has previously indicated “we have too many liquor stores in our community.”
St. Johns-based SBPS 3 JI LLC bought the property in 2019. At the time, it was a vacant property that once held a gas station.
The family that bought the property manages a RaceWay gas station less than a half-mile away. Because of the proximity, the family previously told Jacksonville Today that it wanted to open a different business.
The city’s Planning Department encouraged the Planning Commission in July 2020 to deny an zoning exemption needed to open a liquor store. However, during a seven-hour Zoom meeting, the commission approved the exemption.
Gupreet Singh, who leads the family-owned business that sought to open the package store, says the property has not been sold.
“Right now, the city of Jacksonville is in conversations with our attorney,” Singh said this month. “I don’t know if the city is going to put in an offer to purchase it. We haven’t received anything concrete.”
Former City Council President Jack Webb represents the Metro Gardens Neighborhood Association in its fight to prevent the store from opening. He said he has no reason to believe the deal will not occur.
“They are excited,” Webb said of the residents. “There were a lot of moving parts. To land the airplane in difficult circumstances is a great result. The community is ecstatic. We just need to get the airplane to the gate.”
And, that means finalizing the purchase.
In May, former City Council member Al Ferraro proposed buying the property with $500,000 set aside to remove the confederate monument from Springfield Park. The proposal was withdrawn before the full council could consider it.
In August, Mayor Donna Deegan told Northwest Jacksonville residents she was happy to have come to a resolution.
“We heard you loud and clear,” Deegan said Aug. 24 in a community meeting. “We were, frankly, as upset as you were. … At this point it needs to go, and it’s going to go.”
