JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A request to expand a halal grocery store on Beach Boulevard advanced through the Jacksonville City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee after the applicant withdrew a request to build an animal processing facility, according to News4JAX partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.
On two 4-2 votes on Tuesday, the LUZ committee recommended approval of a land use amendment and an amended rezoning request for the expansion of Apna Bazar.
Committee members Terrance Freeman and Raul Arias were absent, and member Rory Diamond and Council President Kevin Carrico voted against the measure.
Apna Bazar, which originally proposed a slaughterhouse as part of its expansion, withdrew that request last week after pushback from neighbors and animal rights activists.
“It is not OK to come into a neighborhood when people are struggling to make ends meet. They come to your store, they spend money, they want to welcome you, be good neighbors, but you need to do the same and respect that we just don’t want a slaughterhouse of any kind or processing facility,” a resident said.
Ordinance 2025-0487 would grant a small-scale land use amendment from Community/General Commercial and Low Density Residential to Light Industrial on a 0.91-acre portion of the property, and from Low Density Residential to Community/General Commercial on a 1.38-acre portion.
Ordinance 2025-0488 would change the zoning to Planned Unit Development from Residential Low Density and Community/General Commercial. This rezoning ordinance had initially contained the request to add the slaughterhouse.
Property records show the plaza comprises two buildings totaling about 59,000 square feet with multiple businesses. Apna Bazar plans to expand its operation with a 30,000-square-foot addition and to build a 23,800-square-foot freestanding structure to the east of the shopping center.
After Apna Bazar withdrew the request for the slaughterhouse, the written description of the PUD was changed to eliminate all references to the animal processing facility.
With the committee’s vote on Tuesday, the ordinance advances to consideration by the full Council, possibly as early as Dec. 9.
Read more at the Jacksonville Daily Record
Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.