JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We’re starting to get an idea of the next steps involved in Sporting Jax’s plan to build a 15,000-seat soccer stadium and mixed-use sporting district near the Town Center.
The area is almost entirely within Council President Kevin Carrico’s (R-District 4) district.
“Could be one of the biggest announcements since the Stadium of the Future and the Four Seasons in this town,” said Carrico.
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But neighbors who live near the site, like Joe Cranford, who just moved in from Washington State, are already feeling anxiety about the possibility of additional traffic in an already congested area.
“It’s just gonna be kind of a nightmare. And I moved here, I retired early, sold my business, so you know, I kind of wanted a little bit easier of a situation,” said Cranford. ”Me and my wife are actually thinking about moving now that we heard about it.”
This project is by no means a done deal, though.
For starters, Sporting Jax still needs to close on the property.
Approval will also need to be secured with the Army Corps of Engineers and Water Management District, and those applications have not-yet been submitted.
If all of that goes through, there will still likely need to be zoning changes, as this map shows all but the three portions of the site circled in red are not zoned for commercial.
Carrico explained that zoning and any potential opportunities for city incentives will have to go through council, which will likely just be one of many opportunities for the public to provide input and feedback.
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“The traditional process is to get with the district councilman, which would be me, and hold community meetings,” said Carrico. ”And if there are concerns about traffic patterns or things like that over there in that Town Center area, we’ll let their voices be heard, and representatives from the group, from the development group will get to come out, and they’ll get to share their vision with the constituents, with the people who live in and around that area.”
And while Cranford said he’s not one to get directly involved in these types of battles, he’s heard from enough neighbors to know there will to be no shortage of concerned voices speaking out as the project moves forward.
“I’d be willing to bet money on it, said Cranford.
We reached out to Sporting Jax for an interview to go over project timelines, next steps forward and what kind of city incentives might be sought for the project.
They declined an on-camera interview, but sent us a general statement.
“We look forward to working collaboratively with city leaders and the community as we move forward and bring this to life. We will have more announcements to make in the coming months and are grateful for the enthusiasm shown by all. Stay tuned,” said a Sporting Jax spokesperson.
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