JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Despite the city not planning to take a vote or make any official changes a meat processing facility proposal, it hosted a community meeting to allow residents, city leaders and sponsors of the proposal to have an open-discussion at Living Stream Church.

The property is 11153 Beach Boulevard, in My Jax Plaza, situated between DeSalvo & Cortez Roads. The site currently includes multiple retail tenants. 

Apna Bazar proposes to add a 30,000-square-foot addition plus a 23,800-square-foot freestanding structure for on-site slaughter, warehouse, storage, and retail storefronts. 

The request involves a land use amendment and rezoning of parts of the property from residential/low density or residential/commercial to Light Industrial and/or Community/General Commercial. As well, a Planned Unit Development (PUD) overlay is sought.

Attorney Cyndy Trimmer (Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne and Diebenow PLLC) says the new facility is scaled down, is designed with “safeguards” intended to limit odor, noise, and visibility. 

The facility would be “enclosed,” meaning slaughtering and byproduct handling would happen indoors; live animal deliveries would occur via box trucks with a garage-door closing system. Trimmer emphasized that the previous, larger proposal (in Northwest Jacksonville, April 2024) was withdrawn in response to community concerns, and the current plan reflects adjustments.

Apna Bazar’s manager has stated publicly that the intent is not to stir controversy but to provide halal meat more accessibly to Northeast Florida’s Muslim community, which currently relies on distant suppliers.

Kimberly Robinson, who lives adjacent to the property, says the proposed building (which neighbors estimate to be very tall and very close to property lines) threatens her home’s value and her ability to sell in the future. She pleaded: “extracting equity out of my home… to put in your pocket.”

Many neighbors cited worries about noise, odor, traffic, runoff, stormwater management, and potential water contamination—especially given many residents rely on local wells.

Others raised distrust about long-term oversight: whether inspections, code enforcement, and regulatory safeguards will be sustained years into operation.

Apna Bazar first attempted a similar plan in April 2024 in Northwest Jacksonville; that proposal was withdrawn amid community opposition.

For residents, the facility would be more than just a change in zoning: it’s seen as a potential long-term disruption to their neighborhoods. Concerns include possible decline in property values, environmental health issues and traffic burdens.

For Apna Bazar, the facility represents a way to serve the Northeast Florida and surrounding underserved Muslim customers relying on halal meat more directly, reduce reliance on distant processors, potentially lower costs for customers, create jobs and grow business.

The case is also being viewed through the lens of equity: neighbors suggest the proposal wouldn’t be considered in more affluent neighborhoods, questioning fairness in how land use decisions are applied.

The land use amendment / rezoning for the Beach Boulevard site was initially expected to go before the Planning Commission around August 21, 2025, but was deferred.

The rezoning item passed in the Land, Use and Zoning Committee was deferred again in early September. The next scheduled discussion is October 7, 2025.