JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neighbors in one community are stepping up the fight against a plan to put a slaughterhouse on Jacksonville’s Southside.
Apna Bazar plans to build this facility on Beach Boulevard, between Desalvo Road and Cortez Road.
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“We are going to fight it every step of the way,” said Shannon Blair, an animal rights activist. “There are so many homes there, there are schools in the area, there are businesses nearby.”
On Thursday, one of several public hearings was held Downtown, where community members had a chance to voice their concerns ahead of this proposal moving forward.
For months, neighbors have protested and complained about the potential smell they believe it would bring.
But the company’s lawyer, Cyndy Trimmer, said the plans are very small-scale. She added that the floor plan includes space that will be shared with retail.
When Action News Jax spoke with Trimmer back in September, she said neighbors in the area will not be able to hear, see, or smell anything outside of the building.
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“They have a team that came up with something that would be fully enclosed and integrated into this mix used building, that a closed vehicle that looks like any other delivery truck would drive into the building, the door would close, so it would look like any other delivery,” said Trimmer.
She also addressed folks’ concerns over waste from the facility flowing into the wetlands nearby.
“Nothing of the animal product can leave the facility and go into the water system,” said Trimmer. “Everything has to be very, very carefully processed.”
But neighbors are still hopeful that plans will be pulled for this current proposal, or city leaders will turn it down.
“The residents of Jacksonville do not want this here,” said Blair.
By the end of the month, the proposal is expected to go before the city council for a vote.
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