JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – People living on Jacksonville’s Westside are sharing their concerns as a liquor store is under construction just a short walk from an elementary school.
A Shores Liquor store is being built near the intersection of Old Middleburg Road and Collins Road, but to continue as planned, Shores Liquor is requesting a waiver because of its proximity to an elementary school in the neighborhood.
Enterprise Learning Academy is just a few buildings down from the construction site, and day care, a public library and a fire station are all nearby.
Because the liquor store plans to include a tasting room, which means there would be alcohol consumption on site, it must get a waiver to be that close to a school.
If the developer does not get the waiver approved, drinking will not be allowed inside the liquor store.
A Shores Liquor representative said in a written statement that the tasting room will provide wine classes, have upscale bourbon and tequila events, and offer high-end pours for purchase.
According to the city code, any business that allows alcohol to be consumed on its premises without also offering food service must be at least 1,500 feet from an established school or church.
The code says that the distance is measured by following a straight line from the nearest point of the building or portion of the building used as part of the proposed location to the nearest point of the grounds used as part of the school facilities.
The liquor store’s tasting room and Enterprise Learning Academy are 1,347 feet apart, according to the waiver application, which is why the store needs the waiver.
Councilman Rahman Johnson said there needs to be open and honest discussions between Shores Liquor and the people who live in that part of the Westside.
“The thing that I am always about is, ‘Do you see me? Does what I have to say matter?’” he said about what some of his constituents have told him. “The community says, ‘Hey, we at least want to talk about this.’ I think we have a responsibility as the city to facilitate that conversation. Does it mean that we are going to reach an agreement? It doesn’t. But we cannot even get there if we are not communicating about it.”
Johnson is hosting a public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Argyle Branch Public Library, and Shores Liquor representatives are expected to be there.
The last public meeting about the proposed liquor store was in September 2024, and a lot of people who live in the area and do not want to see the development told News4JAX then that they feel a new liquor store could devalue property and cause traffic flow and safety issues in the area.
“I think it devalues the value of the property around that,” neighborhood resident Ernest Carraway said after the September meeting. “We are trying to increase our value, and yet it does seem like it is trying to decrease the value of our neighborhoods.”
One woman News4JAX spoke with ahead of this week’s meeting says she has lived for close to 30 years across the street from the site where the new liquor store would be.
“I am not okay with the [tasting room] because we have had drunk people come through our yard several times and done a considerable amount of destruction,” Kasey said. “Actually, one of the people who came into my yard one time did a year worth of jail time for drunk driving.”
She says she is also concerned about potential safety issues in that area.
“There are no sidewalks,” Kasey said. “There are no sidewalks on this part of Old Middleburg Road. In the afternoon, when school is in, there are two school buses that drop kids off in front of the [Argyle Branch Public Library]. They have to walk down here, and they have to walk all the way down to the subdivision.”
Rezoning for the property was approved in 2021, so the property owner has the right to build on the land. The question is over whether it can allow alcohol consumption and not just sales on site.
“For me, being a judge as a member of the quasi-judicial committee, I want to look at all of the substantial evidence,” Johnson said. “Give me all of the details. But then on the other side, I am a member of this council, and I represent that community. I want to make sure that that community has all of their concerns heard by the developer and maybe they can find some way to negotiate or find some happy medium.”
The developer said construction is expected to be done by November, and the liquor store will have a soft opening in December.
