FRUIT COVE, Fla. — The community of Fruit Cove Estates is rallying against plans to establish a Daily’s gas station and car wash at the junction of State Road 13 and Otoes Place. This location marks the entrance to their peaceful 44-home neighborhood.

Michael Dunlop, who serves as the president of the Fruit Cove Estates Homeowners Board, has voiced the collective apprehension of residents who are standing firmly against the development.

“Our community is strongly opposed to this project,” Dunlop emphasized.

The parent company of Daily’s, First Coast Energy, has proposed rezoning the site, formerly a plant nursery, to accommodate fuel pumps and a drive-thru car wash. The development plan includes constructing an entrance that would intersect directly with Otoes Place.

Krista Dubé, a neighbor, called it a dangerous idea.

“That is our only neighborhood entrance in and out for all the residents that live here, for emergency vehicles, for deliveries, for all of that,” she said.

Renderings show a large convenience store and car wash just feet from backyards. Dunlop questioned the need.

“We scratch our heads because within sort of less than a 2-mile radius, there’s 3 or 4 gas stations serving northbound east and west traffic, so the need for yet another gas station just seems overkill on such a beautiful piece of land,” he said.

Krista Dubé also noted the property isn’t zoned for fuel sales.

“This is retail space,” she said. “This is zoned for retail. This is not zoned for a gas station and a car wash.”

Residents raised alarms over environmental and safety risks.

“Both from an environmental, we all live on well water, the runoff, the chemicals from a gas station and car wash, and most importantly, the safety,” Dunlop added. “There’s a bus stop with schoolchildren here, that’s trying to cross a very busy road that’s only getting busier.”

It’s not the first time this has been proposed. Neighbor Keith Dubé said the county has rejected similar plans before.

“This is gonna be the 3rd time, and we don’t want it to be a 4th,” he said. “We don’t want it at all and no one around here wants this.”

Residents challenged county commissioners to consider their own backyards.

“Would they want something like this built right in front of their neighborhood? I just don’t see everyone raising their hands saying, ‘oh yeah, we want this,” Keith Dubé went on to say.

Ultimately, they want the land preserved.

“This is a beautiful piece of land, and we ask them to try and save it and keep it beautiful and to keep our neighborhood, the children, the adults safe,” Dunlop said.

As the fight continues, a community meeting with First Coast Energy is planned for Feb. 15. Neighbors urged Fruit Cove residents to attend and speak out.

First Coast News reached out to all five St. Johns County commissioners and First Coast Energy but has not yet heard back.