JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Some North Mandarin residents are concerned that plans to build a sidewalk along a road known for its magnificent, historic tree canopies could lead to their destruction.
This project will be an extension of the sidewalk project along Mandarin Road that was already completed years ago. It started at Brady and ended at Red Cypress Drive. It will pick back up there and go roughly two and a half miles to Walter Jones Historical Park.
Renee Slater moved to that part of Mandarin 15 years ago. She said the tree canopies along Mandarin Road helped shape her decision.
“I was awestruck by this road,” Slater said. “I just couldn’t believe my eyes. That’s what pushed me to buy a house here.”
Linda Roy also loves the wildlife that the tree canopies bring, especially birds.
“They nest out here, but they come into our neighborhoods and sit on the fences and that kind of stuff, but it’s a wonderful thing to be able to see birds like that in a developed area,” Roy said.
That’s why both women are hoping the plans for the sidewalk extension are scrapped. Slater launched a Change.com petition that nearly 300 people have signed. The women have been in contact with Councilman Michael Boylan, who represents the area.
Boylan said a Complete Streets study conducted in 2016 recommended the original sidewalk extension and with a future expectation that it would extend all the way down to Walter Jones Park. Boyland said he hears and understands the concerns about the tree canopies from residents.
“I can safely say the corridor itself, in total, will not be impacted,” Boylan said.
But he couldn’t definitively say that no trees will be impacted.
“It’s premature for me to make that kind of statement. Would I like to be able to say that I can? I’d love to say it,” he said.
Boylan also said he has a passion for the tree canopies, which he and his family have enjoyed for decades. He hopes to minimize potential damage. While he understands the concerns from some, he said constituents told him they fear for their safety and their families.
“People say, ‘I can’t let my children go out there,’” I also understand and appreciate the interest of constituents living north of here, who’ve been asking me for multiple years is, ‘when are we going to get ours?’" Boylan said.
As for the project’s funding, Boylan said Congressman John Rutherford was able to help secure a federal grant, but an additional $1.5 million dollars is still needed. Boylan will host a meeting on the project May 14th. He said Jacksonville Transportation Authority will be there to roll out its preliminary plan for the project and an arborist will be present. Residents are encouraged to be there.
“It will be an opportunity for them to hear from me, to talk about my rationale for doing this, and the rationale for the folks who want to see it done,” Boylan said. “For their arborist to be there, to talk about his role in the process of protecting and preserving the trees as best we possibly can.”
Slater and Roy said they plan to be there to get answers, but the uncertainty makes them uncomfortable. Slater even referenced the history of Mandarin, including the period when Uncle Tom’s Cabin author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, lived in the area.
“She was enchanted,” Slater said. “She wrote a memoir called ‘Palmetto Leaves’, and that spoke about the beauty and history of the canopies and the nature in Mandarin.”
“We’re not against development, per se, but to destroy something with such historic significance, beauty, and available to anybody who wants to drive down this road, and I have no objection to sidewalks, just don’t touch the trees,” Roy said.
Boylan’s meeting will be on May 14 at the Mandarin Community Club on 12447 Mandarin Road at 6 p.m.
The city of Jacksonville enacted an ordinance that designated Mandarin Road as a historic, scenic road.
