Gardens would get their own zoning rules under a new council bill
Appeals judges on the ballot, Pemberton Street floods again, and Flagler Avenue's Southbank redesign moves toward construction.
Over in Springfield, Nathan Ballentine's Overalls Farm 3 is one of a few small plots that, together, can serve about 200 families. He'd like to see a lot more of what Jacksonville eats grown right here in town.
For years, Nathan Ballentine of Overalls Farms has grown food without clear guidance on where gardens fit in the zoning code. The city, he says, told him, "we can't tell you you can do that... but we also can't tell you you can't do that." Ordinance 2026-807, from council members Jimmy Peluso and Raul Arias, gets introduced at City Council today. It would define community gardens and gardens that sell produce in the zoning code, spell out which residential and commercial districts allow each, and set limits on structures, garden size and selling on site. Arias frames the fix as a small-business issue: "Gardening is a small business. They just can't sell." The catch is a cap. The current draft holds selling gardens to 12 public sales days a year, and advocates, Ballentine among them, warn it could also squeeze neighborhood gatherings and other community events at a farm. Arias expects amendments but wants to test the rules before loosening them. For Ballentine, seeing any proposal move is a relief. "I see neighborhoods with community access to fresh healthy food," he said. Committees take the bill next, and a full council vote could come later this fall.
Three appeals judges face a keep-or-replace vote Nov. 3
This year Judge Scott D. Makar wrote the opinion backing a developer and Nassau County over neighbors who opposed a project on 51 oceanfront acres of Amelia Island. On Nov. 3, voters decide whether he keeps his seat on Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal, along with John M. Harris and F. Rand Wallis. The vote is nonpartisan, and a judge who loses is replaced by Gov. Ron DeSantis's pick. The court hears appeals from lower courts around Jacksonville and in part of Central Florida, in criminal, civil and other cases. Harris joined a 2020 ruling that police can't force suspects to give up cell phone passcodes. Makar and Wallis have each dissented, at least in part, on Florida's practice of marking some driver's licenses to flag sexual predators. Don't expect a campaign: judges on a retention ballot are barred from most political activity.
Pemberton Street neighbors want a lasting fix after Isaias floods
Overnight rain tied to Hurricane Isaias left streets around Pemberton Street, near Beach Boulevard, underwater by Saturday and pushed water into homes. Kids were spotted on four-wheelers churning through the water. "The yards are flooded, and that water gets into people's houses," Stevie Szalam said. It wasn't the first time. Neighbors say the flooding goes back years, and complaint after complaint has produced nothing permanent. "They have not listened to us, and they need to do something," Dawn Brown said. Her worry: if nothing improves, whoever lives there next will face the same mess. Jonathan Vanderburgh said a friend sometimes trucks in dirt and sand when it's dry, only for the next rain to carry much of it off. After a big storm, the water can sit for days, sometimes close to a week. What residents want now is for the city to fix the neighborhood's drainage for good.
Flagler Avenue's Southbank makeover nears the end of design
Once it's built, the block of Flagler Avenue from Prudential Drive to Riverplace Boulevard could shut to cars for special events, with retractable bollards at both ends. Streetscape upgrades round out the plan for a more pedestrian-friendly street. Last week, GAI Consultants, the Downtown Investment Authority's design firm for the roughly $2.5 million project, told the city's Downtown Development Review Board it expects to wrap up design in January. If everything stays on schedule, groundbreaking follows in summer 2027.
Dance it out downtown, no charge
- When
- Oct. 13 · 6 to 7 p.m.
- Where
- Friendship Fountain
- Address
- 1015 Museum Cir.
- Price
- Free
Can't make it? It comes back every Tuesday, same fountain, same hour.