Critics claim traffic study inaccurately classifies Oceanway neighborhood in opposition to proposed Chick-fil-A

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The battle continues between a proposed Chick-fil-A restaurant and Oceanway residents who do not want to see the popular franchise moving in as their next-door neighbor.

The Land Use and Zoning Committee (LUZ) will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, April 16 regarding the results of a recently conducted traffic study ― a study some Northcreek residents said is inaccurate.

The LUZ committee requested the study be completed nearly two months ago before it could decide on rezoning the property near Bradley Cove Road and Lady Lake Road.

The rezoning will nearly double the amount of parking spaces from 35 to 64 spaces and more than double drive-thru car storage from 14 to 34 cars if approved.

“We can get to only page eight or nine and there’s a complete misclassification of Duval Station Road as a four-lane, median-divided major urban connector, that is just false,” resident Christine Brundage said.

The 600-page traffic study for the proposed Chick-fil-A projects the amount of traffic expected if the high-volume restaurant was to make way in the neighborhood.

Brundage said there were also other things wrong with the study.

“This is a two lane, no median road that has drainage ditches lining both sides in some parts. It also classifies it as restaurant, commercial and industrial. So apparently, all of the homes like the 1000s of homes that are along this road have disappeared out of the traffic study,” she said.

Tracy Terry lives right across from where the restaurant could be built. She said the study doesn’t show the full picture of who’s going to be affected if the Chick-fil-A moves in.

“With this new project coming into our neighborhood, it’s going to heavily impact this entire neighborhood, this whole community, and no mention of my home or the 1000s of homes that’s in this neighborhood was in that traffic study. It was just mainly talking about commercial this, commercial that,” Terry said.

Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr. was still evaluating the study when we reached out to him for comment.

I’m currently in the process of reviewing the traffic study. My goal is to review this plan thoroughly and identify any concerns and issues I feel the community may have. Once done reviewing this study, Tuesday I will make the best decision for the residents in Jacksonville.

Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr.

Going into Tuesday’s meeting, Brundage said she wants to hear what the city will say about the results.

“Well, we’ve through a public record request received information about the submitted traffic study that was paid for by Chick-fil-A, what we haven’t seen is the city’s interpretation of that to figure out if they’ve also seen the disparities between reality and what’s on paper, and how that will impact their recommendation,” she said.

Terry hopes the LUZ committee members will visit the property before they make their final decision.

“Rather than just saying yes and agreeing to something that they haven’t really come out and witnessed so I’m just hoping it comes out in our favor and that we can move on from this,” Terry said.

Committee members are expected to vote on the rezoning at Tuesday’s meeting.