While many County Residents are on Spring Break next week, our County Commissioners have some meaty topics on the agenda!
Consent Agenda Items
Did you know there is a Northeast Florida Coordinated Mobility Plan? Consent Agenda Item 3 is Approval of the Northeast Florida Coordinated Mobility Plan. Essentially, this provides funding through Federal Transit Administration grants to cover the Sunshine Bus Program.
Read more about it here: Northeast Florida Coordinated Mobility Plan Item
Regular Agenda Items
Item 1 on the Regular Agenda is Board Discussion of Land Development Code Article IV (Tree Ordinance.) There has been a lot of social media chatter about this one. Important to note, this is NOT a reading of a new Ordinance. That requires public notice and two formal hearings. Instead, this is a presentation to seek Board Guidance on updates to the code. There should not be any vote on an ordinance at this point.
At the March 4, 2025 BOCC Meeting, Commissioner Whitehurst made a motion to move the meeting to March 25 (one week later) because so many people would be away on Spring Break vacation March 18. Commissioners Joseph and Taylor felt very strongly that the discussion could not be moved to allow more people to attend.
Here’s the discussion item: Agenda Item 1
Reading the social media posts, one might think Tuesday is the day to vote on the ordinance, but it is not. Again, Ordinance changes have to be published and then go through 2 readings before being voted on. It will be interesting to see why there is such a push to have this discussion on March 18.
“Objective: Facilitate BCC discussion on the previously proposed 14 Tree Goals. Background: On October 17, 2023 BCC directed staff to bring a discussion item on current St. Johns County tree protection regulations in the Land Development Code (LDC) and to revisit the 14 Tree Goals in the context of the Comprehensive Plan amendment process. On December 17, 2024 BCC directed staff to again present the 14 Tree Goals for further discussion. Since December 17, 2024 staff has met with Chair Joseph twice to discuss the goals. Table 1 is a summary of the original 14 Goals with notation of considerations of changes from these 2 discussions.”
The requested outcome of the discussion on the 18th is:
“Staff is seeking Board direction on either of the following: 1. Provide staff with direction to bring further analysis on one or more goals for further discussion at a future date TBD. 2. No further action.”
Here’s a link to the October 2023 discussion item, that may be important to review prior to reading the proposed changes: Analysis of Proposed 14 Points to Save Trees
Those who proposed the 14 points have been vocal that this will mostly impact developers as they develop new communities. Any of us who live in St. Johns County appreciate the beauty of the trees in our county and are in favor of preserving as many trees as we can! And those of us who are homeowners enjoy having trees in our landscaping for the beauty and shade provided. As homeowners, we also know the cost of maintaining trees, especially in new developments where trees are often planted too close to the foundation or lot lines and have to be managed in later years as root systems develop, not always in ways that are good!
There are some elements to the Land Development Code changes that would impact all homeowners, including new homebuyers. While it is easy to say, the developers will pay for this, as anyone who has built a home knows, these costs just get passed on to home buyers.
One proposed change that could have unintended consequences for homeowners is under Goal 5, More strongly discourage non-permitted tree removal. This is proposed to take place with increased fines for non-permitted tree removal.
Increase Fine (Goal 5)
- Current: LDC 4.01.05.E.3 provides a tiered approach to fines based on the size of the tree, with fines ranging from $200 to $1,000 per tree removed. If unable to assess the number and size of Protected trees removed due to the site being completely cleared and graded, such violation shall be subject to a fine of $30,000 per acre.
- Proposed: Trees removed illegally should be subject to a fine 10X the current fine to discourage such violations.
- Background: Ordinance 2020-23 amended the LDC to add Sec. 4.01.05.E.3 fines for Protected tree removal without a permit.
- Cost: The current fine ranges from $200 to $1,000 per tree or $30,000 per acre. Therefore, the proposed fines would range from $2,000 to $10,000 per tree or $300,000 per acre.
While this may be intended to stop developers and builders from removing too many trees, the unintended consequence is that as a homeowner, you are subject to tohese same fines if you remove a protected tree without a permit.
If you are a homeowner, or plan to be a homeowner in St. Johns County, it is worth your time to read through the proposal and make your thoughts known to our County Commissioners.
Agenda Item 2 is a discussion on Residential Entitlements Data. What is that? We often hear that there in the neighborhood of 60,000 homes that are entitled to be built but have not been built, therefore no new homes need to be approved until the Infrastructure catches up. The Northeast Florida Builders Association (NEFBA) has long said that the number is not correct. This discussion item is to explore the differences in what NEFBA believes is remaining to be built and what the County database shows is remaining to be built.
There was an article about this in the Jacksonville Business Journal March 10. I think this link is behind a paywall, Builders Want Accurate Lot Count so I’ll summarize.
The article by Stuart Korfhage, who has long covered St. Johns County, begins with this statement, “When it comes to planning for growth in St. Johns County, there are two main camps: those who want a major slowdown and those who want a practical path forward.”
The divide between those two camps is evident on our Commission and in our communities as the county continues to evolve and grow.
The difference in numbers is large – NEFBA says the number is really around 25,000. As an example from the article, Sawgrass is showing a remaining 5,700 residential units to be built that are highly unlikely to be built.
At the March 4 Commission Meeting, Commissioner Murphy asked Growth Management to come back to the Board with more data on the actual count that they can use for future planning.
Agenda Item 3 is the 2050 Comprehensive Plan Update: Data and Analysis. An update was provided on February 18 and the Commissioners had questions. This is a response to those questions. Information is here: Comp Plan Discussion
Agenda Item 4 – World Golf Village Hall of Fame Discussion. Another follow up item from a previous meeting, materials are here, but very high level. World Golf Hall of Fame
Agenda Item 5 – Hearing to vacate a portion of an unopened 16’ wide alley right-of-way in Hastings Villa, in Hastings.
Agenda Item 6 – Rivertown Forest Phase 1 – this is the platting of 152 single family lots on 65.261 acres.
Check out the details here: Rivertown Plat
Agenda Item 7 – Silverleaf Market Loop Road – final plat approval for Silverleaf Market Loop road – no residential lots.
Details here: Silverleaf Market
Agenda Item 8 – County Attorney Advisory Review Committee Recruitment Update – status update on selection of the County Attorney. Recommended candidates for the final section by the Board and details about the special meeting scheduled for March 25.
The Jax Daily Record reports on the 3 finalists here: County Attorney Recommendations
The finalists are, Rich Kommando (current interim attorney), Brad Bulthius (former assistant county attorney) and Michael Rodriguez (attorney in Boca Raton.)
Agenda Item 9 – Appointments to the Affordabe Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) – Due to resignation and end of term for 2 members, 3 candidates are under consideration. CVs and recommendations here: AHAC Appointments
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Beth Tate 
Thank youâ¦.very informative!
Lori Webb
If I remember correctly, the last time the 14 point tree ordinance was on the agenda it had the same purpose – soliciting guidance for staff. But somehow it morphed into a vote? Could that happen again?