More than 100 trees and native plantings will go into Jacksonville Beach's new passive park after the city secured funding from the Jacksonville Tree Commission.

The park, on city-owned land west of South Beach Parkway at Jacksonville Drive in the Southend Redevelopment District, has been under construction since June 2026. Crews clearing invasive vegetation discovered that most of the existing plants could not serve as a buffer for the 14 surrounding residential properties, CRA Coordinator Taylor Mobbs told the Community Redevelopment Agency board at its Monday, Aug. 24 meeting.

"Once they got in there and started clearing out a lot of the underbrush, what we thought was a healthy barrier and buffer is not," Mobbs said. "There were a lot of invasive plants and a lot of dead plants."

Trevor Hughes, Jacksonville Beach's chief of parks development and maintenance, worked with the Tree Commission to secure funding for a new landscape buffer. The Tree Commission, a City of Jacksonville advisory panel established in 2017 to expand the urban tree canopy, agreed to fund the installation, the Beach Gazette reported. Healthy existing trees will remain on site.

The funding does not change the park's timeline. At the CRA's July 15 meeting, officials said completion was expected by late September or early October 2026, weather permitting. A community survey will choose the park's name.

The park will connect with the city's Urban Trail project adjacent to South Beach Park. It will feature native vegetation, seating, informational signage and water stations. The city held a public meeting on the Urban Trail design on May 27 at the Parks and Recreation Exhibition Hall on South Beach Parkway.

CRA board member Thad Moseley noted that fast-growing native shrubs can fill in quickly while the new trees spend years maturing.

As of Tuesday, Aug. 25, only two of seven City Council members had responded to a request for input on the landscaping plans, Mobbs said. The council had until the end of that week to weigh in.

Mobbs said door hangers with updated landscaping information will go to the 14 nearby residents before additional clearing begins.