Neighbors in Jacksonville’s San Jose area are gearing up for a legal fight after Jacksonville’s Planning Commission on July 23 advanced a rezoning request that would let Dream Finders Homes build roughly 110 units at the former Kings Trail Elementary site on Old Kings Road South. Commissioners voted unanimously to move the application forward despite objections from the adjacent neighborhood association, which saw all five of its requested protections rejected. Neighbors left the meeting saying they are “ready for litigation” as the project now heads to City Hall for committee review.
Rezoning and the ordinances
Two companion ordinances would change the parcel’s future land use designation and rezone the roughly 12.41 acre property at 7401 Old Kings Road S. from a public building district to a Planned Unit Development that would allow townhomes and cottage-style multifamily dwellings. The City of Jacksonville Legistar file for Ordinance 2026-0478 details the exhibits, site plan and legal language for the Kings Trail PUD and notes that the property is owned by the Duval County School Board and tied to a companion small-scale amendment, according to City of Jacksonville Legistar.
Neighbors' requests rejected
At the July 23 Planning Commission meeting, commissioners voted 8-0 (Commissioner Sean Hall absent) to recommend approval while turning down the San Jose Neighborhood Association’s five requests. Those requests included routing vehicular access through Powers Avenue via a roadway next to Samuel W. Wolfson High School and the adjacent YMCA property, a 35 foot reused brick buffer along Old Kings Road South, lower building height caps, wetlands restoration provisions and an age restriction tied to the Housing for Older Persons Act. Attorney Paul Harden, representing the developer, told the commission, “You look at (the requests), none of them are reasonable,” while neighborhood representative Chrissy Kinne argued that the recent housing boom has changed the planning baseline, as reported by Jacksonville Daily Record.
Sale and early concerns
The Duval County School Board voted in March to sell the closed Kings Trail Elementary campus to Dream Finders Homes for about $3.7 million, a decision that sparked early concern from nearby residents about traffic and the loss of community uses. The sale remained subject to the district’s closing process, and developer approvals and permitting are required before any site work can begin, as reported by News4JAX.
Developer activity nearby
Dream Finders has been especially active in Jacksonville this year, pursuing infill and conversion projects that track with strong homebuilding demand in the market. The company is also advancing a separate plan to convert Prominence Office Park into roughly 204 townhomes, according to reporting in the Jacksonville Business Journal, a sign of the appetite planners see for denser for sale housing in the area.
What comes next
With the Planning Commission’s recommendation in hand, the matter now moves to the City Council Land Use & Zoning Committee, which is scheduled to take up the issue on Aug. 4. If the committee advances the ordinances, they will proceed to full council hearings on the city’s calendar, a timetable that will determine when permits and site work can begin, as reported by Jacksonville Daily Record.
Legal implications
The Legistar record includes a key procedural detail: the rezoning would not take effect until 31 days after adoption of the companion small-scale amendment and could be delayed if the state land-planning agency or the Administration Commission issues a final order challenging compliance with Chapter 163, Florida Statutes. That timing gives opponents an administrative pathway to press their concerns even if council signs off on the ordinances, since a state review or similar challenge can affect when, or under what conditions, the approval becomes effective, according to the City of Jacksonville Legistar record.
