More Evidence You Don't Want a Gas Station in Your Hood

I tried to write to developers and the city about a gas station at Kernan and McCormick in Jacksonville. Nobody responded, including my representatives in the city council, the developer who owns the property, and the builder who owns the adjacent property. I posted my letters and concerns on my other websites. Here's one of the articles.



I also posted on NextDoor about it, with most people agreeing with me that a gas station is not an optimal use for the corner property. But some people wanted the convenience of a new gas station, believing it would be nicer than older ones in the area. I disagree.

I recently watched a documentary about a shooting that took place at a gas station in Jacksonville. I'd heard about it back before I moved here, and I remember thinking, "That's why I'm not moving to Florida." There's been at least one shooting at a gas station since we moved here in June, too, so it's not like people with guns have stopped gassing up or getting their booze. I've also heard extremely loud music in gas station parking lots, so that (considered to be a contributing factor in the infamous gas station shooting) has continued to be a pastime of young people in cars. That won't stop. Neither will the existence of handguns in glove compartments. In fact, since it's hot here most of the time, we should just call them gun compartments.

More evidence was seen tonight, September 15th 2017 at around 10pm, at the 7-11 at Kernan and Atlantic. This is also not a "bad" neigborhood. But the gas station and convenience store is a magnet for suspicious activity. As I was leaving, a car in front of me went through the red light at Kernan. Odd, I thought. Then, the car right behind it, in which I'd seen several teens, also ran the same red light. Is that common in JAX? I'm sure it's not, generally, but it sure happened right in front of me. I figured the car in front of me was just as surprised. That driver turned onto Kernan (when the light turned green), and then the car proceeded to swerve back and forth on the two-lane road, nearly going into the ditch and crossing the center line. Out of the three cars leaving the gas station at the same time as me, 100% of them were driving dangerously.

I don't care if it's a Wawa, Gate, 7-11, or whatever kind of cool new gas station company that might want to make my neighborhood less safe. While I have been unsuccessful in getting anyone with power to listen to me, there is power in numbers, and the numbers seem to be saying they don't want this convenience at a corner near the new Magnolia Grove subdivision, as well as Kernan Forest. It's also close to three churches and a school. The good news is that the property does not HAVE to be a gas station yet, even if zoning allows it, and with one probably going in at McCormick and Monument, it's probably not going to sell as such any time soon. And if enough people complain about it, someone might actually listen.