The Jacksonville City Council voted 18-0 on Aug. 11 to rezone the former Kings Trail Elementary School site for a 110-home development on Old Kings Road.

The vote on Ordinance 2026-0478 changes the zoning at 7401 Old Kings Road South from Public Buildings and Facilities to a Planned Unit Development (PUD) for Dream Finders Homes. A separate 17-0 vote on Ordinance 2026-0477 changed the land-use designation to Medium Density Residential. District 6 Council Member Michael Boylan was excused from the meeting.

Neighborhood Group Sought Five Conditions on Project

The San Jose Neighborhood Association, which represents 1,800 homes in the area, opposed the project and submitted five conditions it wanted added to the PUD. The group asked for an access road connecting to Powers Avenue, preservation of 1.44 acres of wetlands and ancient oak trees, and a 35-foot privacy buffer along Old Kings Road. It also sought height limits and a guarantee the development would be restricted to residents 55 and older.

Neither the Jacksonville Planning Commission nor the council endorsed any of those requests, the Jax Daily Record reported.

Council Member's Floor Amendment Adds Buffer and Height Limit

Council Vice President Joe Carlucci, who represents District 5, introduced a floor amendment with different conditions. They include a 6-foot vinyl fence and landscape buffer behind the homes along Old Kings Road and a reduction in maximum building height from 35 feet to 30 feet. The amendment also requires a developer-funded traffic study and a revised PUD description.

Neighborhood Association Says Its Concerns Went Unaddressed

"This whole process has been extremely overwhelming, and our entire city council let us all down bad, and I'm flabbergasted, to say the least," Chrissy Kinne, government relations officer for the San Jose Neighborhood Association, told the Resident News. "Nothing that we have asked for was reconciled."

At the Aug. 4 Land Use and Zoning Committee meeting, Kinne said the association had spent months trying to negotiate with the developer. Paul Harden, the attorney representing Dream Finders Homes, told Jacksonville Today on Aug. 12 that the developer had met every request except the connector road. He said building that road would cost roughly $2 million and require construction on someone else's land.

Traffic Impact Estimates Disputed

City planning officials said at the Aug. 4 committee meeting that the project would add an estimated 1,000 daily vehicle trips to Old Kings Road. They said the road could handle the load. The neighborhood association hired an independent traffic engineer who disagreed with that assessment.

Sale of School Property Still Pending Final Approval

Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) closed Kings Trail Elementary in May 2025 as part of cost-cutting measures. DCPS agreed to sell the 12.41-acre site to Dream Finders Homes for $3.75 million under a February 2026 contract. The district still owns the property.

As we reported Sept. 1, the Duval County School Board recently voted on a new school-closings policy prompted in part by the Kings Trail sale. The school board is awaiting a Castaldi report it expects to review in October before submitting it to the Florida Department of Education for demolition approval, a step required before the sale can close.