JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new plan is in the works to make Jacksonville’s Five Points area safer and cleaner — after a string of break-ins left some local businesses on edge.

Jacksonville City Council recently approved the creation of a Business Improvement District, a special district that will fund safety, beautification, and security improvements across the Five Points area.

For some business owners and workers, that vote couldn’t have come soon enough.

When Bess Abare, the manager at Kathy’s Table, showed up to open the store on Oct. 13, she immediately noticed something didn’t look right next door at Sake House.

“I was so startled and I thought it was a Halloween decoration and I was like, 'why are they doing this?' And then I looked and realized the entire window was practically o

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