CITY COUNCIL HEARING 11-26-2002

In Front of the Jacksonville City Council on Tuesday, November 26, 2002, at 6:00 pm will be the only time to address the ENTIRE Jacksonville City Council regarding the Walgreens @ Argyle Forest Blvd & Rampart Road.

Here are the Facts why Argyle Forest Residents are opposed to Changing the the Zoning from Residential to Commercial:
1. This will drastically change the character of the neighborhood.
2. The Land Use of the Property is RESIDENTIAL.
3. The Zoning of the Property is RESIDENTIAL.
4. The Applicant, Sleiman Brothers, for WALGREENS, is using a loophole in the land use category.
5. SPOT ZONING. This is an old practice that was supposed to be eliminated with the 2010 plan. Why go back to this old practice?
6. No need for Additional Neighborhood Commercial Zoning. There are already 5 Existing Commercial Intersections along Argyle Forest Blvd:
. a. Blanding Blvd
. b. Youngerman Circle
. c. Cheswick Oaks Avenue
. d. Old Middleburg Road
. e. Branan Field-Chafee Road

http://www.coj.net/City+Council/Frequently+Asked+Questions.htm
Q - How can the public participate in City Council meetings?
A - The public can participate in several ways. Those wishing to speak on a bill up for public hearing are also asked to fill out a speaker's card, and will be called to the podium when the public hearing for that bill is opened. Comments must be limited to the subject of the bill. There are two official ''comments from the public'' sections at every Council meeting - one is early in the meeting, the other is at the end. During these times, those wishing to address the Council are asked to fill out speaker's request cards (name, date, address, bill number or subject), which are available before and during the Council meeting. Each speaker's remarks are limited to three minutes.

Please reference Bill Number 2002-1160 on your Speaker's Request Card.

LOCATION AND TIME of the City Council Meeting
Tuesday, November 26, 2002. 6:00 p.m.
117 W. Duval St., City Hall, 1st Floor, Council Chambers (Across from Hemming Plaza)
Contact: (904) 630-1377
Map: http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?BFCat=&Pyt=Tmap&newFL=Use+Address+Below&addr=117+W.+Duval+St.&csz=Jacksonville%2C+FL&Country=us&Get%A0Map=Get+Map

If you feel you will be late to the meeting, Please call Bill Lewis on his Cell Phone 813-9455 to check the progress of the meeting.
I will have it on ''vibrate mode'' as not to disturb the meeting.

http://citycirc.coj.net/coj/Council/56-NOVEMBER-26-2002.HTM
PUBLIC HEARINGS PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 166, F.S. & COUNCIL RULE 3.601:
Bill Number: 2002-1160
ORD-Q Rezoning 7403 Argyle Forest Blvd (2.05 Acres) - RR to PUD (Argyle & Rampart - 15,000 Sq Ft Retail Space [WALGREENS] ) - Robert & Virginia West. (Dist 13-Hipps) (Matchett) (LUZ)
LUZ PH - 12/3/02
Public Hearing Pursuant to Chapt 166, F.S. & CR 3.601 - 11/26/02
1. 11/12/2002 CO Introduced: LUZ
11/19/2002 LUZ Read 2nd & Rerefer

Deferral of Rezoning Application

ROBERT A. HEEKIN
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1 SLEIMAN PARKWAY, SUITE 280
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32216
(904) 639-9777
Fax: (904) 636-5665
Rob@Heekinlaw.com

November 22, 2002

Via Fax (630-2912)
City of Jacksonville
Planning and Development Department
128 East Forsyth Street, Suite 700
Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Attention: Mr. Stephen Smith, Senior Planner

Re: Rezoning Application No. R-2002-1160
NWC Argyle Forest Boulevard and Rampart Road

Gentlemen:

Please accept this letter as my clients' formal request for the deferral of their rezoning application, to allow them to coordinate their site plan with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's planned intersection improvements at Argyle Forest Boulevard and Rampart Road. Although we don't anticipate a lengthy delay, this change might necessitate our deferral by a couple of hearing cycles.

Thank you for your assistance in this regard. If you need anything else on our end, please let me know.

Very truly yours,

Robert A. Heekin

H4993

By Attorney for Walgreens Developer

Walgreen's vs Office Building


I think it will be great to have a Walgreen's half way down Argyle Forest Blvd. Right now it's 10-15 minutes on a good day or time to either Publix or W/D from Rampart. We will now have a store we can get film, 1 hour photo, batteries, milk, limited groceries, most anything you need quickly without fighting grocery store parking issues and the extra traffic to get there. It's not like this store is going to add any additional traffic to this already overcrowded road. If anything it may help some (shorter trips up & down AFB).

If your issue with Walgreens is really more traffic then we should NOT continue building all those communities past W/D and allowed the Terrace Appt Complex, or the Toyota Dealership, or the new construction next to ITT. As a result Youngerman is as bad as AFB. Let's get our priorities in order, I recommend we try and persuade Sleiman to make additional traffic improvements at the intersection in exchange for acceptance into our neighborhood (i.e. 3-4 lane AFB & Rampart a mile in each direction) this would create immediate help to a JTA nightmare already out of control with no immediate solution.

I personally think 3 lane (middle turning lane) the entire AFB immediately would do wonders, just my opinion.

If your issue is having a commercial building in a residential neighborhood then why is Chimney Lakes building a Office Building right in front of the most beautiful part of Argyle less than 1 half mile from this site ? Will this building do anything for our community ? Why there ? Why not back by the Rec Center ? It's useless to most of us in the community, so why clutter up our residential neighborhood with that ?

I took the time to think about this subject for weeks before offer my thoughts on this topic. I tried to be objective, but practical too.




By Ray in Candlewood

Letter to City Council 12-9-2002

Subject : Important Information about City Council Bill Number 2002-1160 - Changing the the Zoning from Residential to Commercial for Walgreens developer, Sleiman Enterprises.

---- Example of Personalized Email ----

Subject: Bill Number: 2002-1160
ORD-Q Rezoning 7403 Argyle Forest Blvd (2.05 Acres) - RR to PUD (Argyle & Rampart - 15,000 Sq Ft Retail Space [WALGREENS] ) - Robert & Virginia West. (Dist 13-Hipps) (Matchett) (LUZ)
LUZ PH - 12/3/02
Public Hearing Pursuant to Chapt 166, F.S. & CR 3.601 - 11/26/02
1. 11/12/2002 CO Introduced: LUZ
11/19/2002 LUZ Read 2nd & Rerefer

Dear President Holland,

The Argyle Area Civic Council knows that you were elected to represent District 3 and that you do a great job of representing the Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, & West Beaches neighborhoods.
Even though you may not be our direct representative and we cannot vote for you, YOU can always vote for us. That is the reason that we are asking you to look into all the issues regarding the Changing the of the Zoning from Residential to Commercial for Walgreens developer, Sleiman Enterprises, that affect the current homeowners and residents of the Argyle Forest Area of Duval and Clay Counties.

President Holland, here are the Facts why Argyle Forest Residents are opposed to Changing the the Zoning from Residential to Commercial for Walgreens developer, Sleiman Enterprises:
1. This will drastically change the character of the neighborhood. See Florida Legal Decisions Below !!
2. The Land Use of the Property is RESIDENTIAL.
3. The Zoning of the Property is RESIDENTIAL.
4. The Applicant, Sleiman Brothers, for WALGREENS, is using a loophole in the land use category.
5. SPOT ZONING. This is an old practice that was supposed to be eliminated with the 2010 plan. Why go back to this old practice?
6. No need for Additional Neighborhood Commercial Zoning. There are already six (6) Existing Commercially Zoned Intersections along Argyle Forest Blvd: See Map: http://www.jacksonville.com/images/092899/gr_argyle.gif
. a. Blanding Blvd
. b. Youngerman Circle.
. c. Westport Road
. d. Cheswick Oaks Avenue
. e. Old Middleburg Road
. f. Branan Field-Chafee Road

SEE Florida Legal Decisions

President Holland, we ask you to please vote against City Council Bill Number 2002-1160 when this Bill comes out of Deferred Status, and don't rush into a decision that will adversely affect the current homeowners and residents of the Argyle Forest Area of Duval and Clay Counties. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this letter. We look forward to speaking in front of you when Public Comment on City Council Bill Number 2002-1160 is continued.

Please reply to let the AACC know that this email was received and read.

Sincerely,

Argyle Area Civic Council
Email: ArgyleACC@netzero.net
eFax: 520-833-6189 Option 2
VoiceMail: 520-833-6189 Option 1
8553-1 Argyle Business Loop
Jacksonville, FL 32244
AACC Web Site: http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/jacksonville/aacc