The San Jose Neighborhood Association brought five demands to the Jacksonville City Council's vote on the former Kings Trail Elementary School site. On Tuesday, Aug. 11, the council gave them two.
Council members voted 17-0 to approve a land-use change and rezoning that clears the way for Dream Finders Homes to build up to 110 homes on the 12.41-acre property at 7401 Old Kings Road S. But the association's top priority, a connector road from the development to Powers Avenue that would have routed construction and resident traffic away from Old Kings Road, was rejected outright.
Developer lobbyist Paul Harden told the Land Use and Zoning Committee on Aug. 4 why: "Everything they asked for we complied with except for the road. We can't build a $2 million road on somebody else's land when we have capacity on the road immediately fronting the site."
Neighborhood association's five requests included road, wetlands, age limit
The association, which represents 1,800 homes in the San Jose area, presented five requests during the rezoning process:
- A connector road to Powers Avenue
- Preservation of 1.44 acres of wetlands and ancient oak trees
- A landscape buffer between the development and existing homes
- Assurances the community would be age-restricted (55-plus)
- Limits on building height
Council approved fencing, buffer and height limit, but not the road
Council Vice President Joe Carlucci, whose District 5 includes the neighborhood, introduced a floor amendment on Tuesday, Aug. 11, that addressed items 3 and 5. Dream Finders must install a minimum 6-foot-high vinyl fence along Old Kings Road and a landscape buffer of trees and shrubbery. The maximum building height drops from 35 feet to 30 feet. A city planning department traffic study requirement remains in place unless the planning director decides it is unnecessary.
Council member Matt Carlucci separately secured a verbal agreement from Harden to plant additional trees along the buffer.
The connector road, the wetlands preservation and the 55-plus restriction were not included.
Traffic engineers disagreed on whether Old Kings Road can handle new homes
City planning officials said at the Aug. 4 committee meeting that the development would add roughly 1,000 daily vehicle trips to Old Kings Road and that the road could handle the load. The San Jose association hired an independent traffic engineer who disagreed, according to Jacksonville Today, arguing Old Kings Road does not function as a proper collector road.
Without the connector to Powers Avenue, all new traffic will use Old Kings Road.
Volunteer-run association faced off against billion-dollar homebuilder
Dream Finders Homes is a Jacksonville-based, publicly traded company with $4.32 billion in revenue in 2025. The San Jose Neighborhood Association formed in 2024, is funded by optional dues and has no paid staff.
Chrissy Kinne, the association's government relations officer and a retired ballroom dancer who moved to Jacksonville to retire, told Jacksonville Today after the vote that the process consumed enormous volunteer hours. She said she never imagined having to learn land use law.
The Duval County School Board closed Kings Trail Elementary in 2024. Dream Finders signed a purchase agreement in February 2026 with a $25,000 deposit on a $3.75 million sale price. The council's approval makes it more likely the school district will finalize that sale, though no closing date is on record.
The Land Use and Zoning Committee approved the ordinances 5-0 on Aug. 4. The full council vote on Tuesday, Aug. 11, was 17-0 on the land-use change (Ordinance 2026-0477) and 18-0 on the rezoning (Ordinance 2026-0478), according to the Jacksonville Daily Record. Council member Michael Boylan was excused; council member Rory Diamond was absent for the land-use vote.
No construction start date has been announced.
.jpg)
