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After a brief hiatus related to a death in the family, I’m resuming my Blog covering the Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting.
The May 7 meeting is packed with a number of important items. Anticipate Public Comment to be heard at the time certain mark of 11:30 (or close to it) and at the end of the day.
There are 4 Proclamations being presented on May 7:
Juror Appreciation Week
National Drug Court Month
Correctional Officers and Employees Week
Water Safety Month
Consent Agenda Items:
There are 38 items in the Consent Agenda. Of interest:
Consent Agenda Item 10 – Request approval to submit Federal grants based on the Program of Projects for Bus and Bus facilities programs. This is to request funding for the Sunshine Bus deviated fixed route and paratransit service.
Consent Agenda Item 11 – a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) extending the timeline for the completion of the Veterans Parkway Intersection construction on CR 210. The delay is caused by the County’s road improvement project. The project will still be completed in 2024.
Interestingly – Consent Agenda Items 34 and 35 are to appoint members of the Construction Board of Adjustment and Appeals and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Curious that these are in the Consent Agenda and not Regular Agenda items as has been the practice in the past.
Regular Agenda Items
Agenda Item 1 – SJC Ordinance amending SJC Ordinance 2022-22, 2nd Reading. This is related to the County’s Local Preference Policy for purchasing.
Agenda Item 2– Public Hearing on Acquisition of North Beach Utilities, Inc. Water and Wastewater System. At the March 19, 2024 meeting the BOCC authorized the Utility department to continue negotiations for the purchase of the North Beach Utilities. Due Diligence has been completed and the Utility Department is recommending completion of the purchase.
Agenda Items 3 and4 are for the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Planned Unit Development to build the Preserve at Wards Creek. This item has been highly controversial in community meetings and at the PZA meeting. The project involves an Affordable Housing Project on 19 acres of land at the intersection of 16 and 16A. The land is currently zoned Agricultural-Intensive and this request changes it to Residential D. This was approved at the PZA with a 4:3 vote.
Agenda Item 8 – Mai Office Complex – request to rezone 1.65 acres from Open Rural to Commercial Neighborhood to build an office complex on the north side of the property.
Request to rezone 7.43 acres of land from Industrial Warehousing to Planned Unit Development for a maximum of 78,000 sq. ft of Business Commerce, Light Manufacturing, Warehousing and Outdoor Storage uses. This property is at the corner of St. Marks Blvd and International Golf Parkway, west of US 1.
Agenda Item 12 – Amendments to the Land Development Code for Special Care Housing – Second Reading. Details are here: Agenda Item 12
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Tuesday’s meeting has some important topics including new parks and updates on the Live Local Act
There are 3 Proclamations to be issued at Tuesday’s meeting;
Recognizing Child Abuse Prevention Month
Recognizing Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Recognizing National Library Week
Consent Agenda
Two items of interest on the Consent Agenda are:
Consent Agenda Item 21 – Issuance of bonds by the Housing Finance Authority of St. Johns County to finance or refinance rehabilitation, construction and development of a multifamily housing project known as Summerset village and Summer Breeze Apartments.
These are existing apartments located in St. Augustine. Background materials are here: Consent Agenda Item 21
Consent Agenda item 22 is an event approval for 3 Triathalon events to take place at Vilano Beach. These events are sponsored by Game On Race Events. The event has been moved from Mickler’s Landing because of the current renourishment project.
AgendaItem 1 – Regional Park and Community Service Center Plan is a review of a plan for 4 full-service regional parks Parks Presentation
Presentation Agenda
AgendaItem 2 – State Funded Florida Shared-Used Nonmotorized Trail Network Program Agreements. In a nutshell, the Florida Legislature allocated $26,277,505 I FDOT Sun Trail Grant funds for 5 segments of the SUN Trail network. As a condition of the funding, the county is required to maintain the project for it’s useful life. This item is for approval to execute the agreements. Details are here: Agenda Item 2
River-to-Sea Loop
Agenda Item 3 – Capital Improvement Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2024. This is project to reduce the cost of deb servicing for the county. Agenda Item 3
Agenda Item 4 – 1st Reading of SJC Ordinance 2022-22, Purchasing Policy, including Local Preference.
In September 2023 there was a proposed change to the Local Preference section of the Purchasing Policy. Concerns were raised that these changes could have unintended negative consequences so the Board asked the Purchasing Director to meet with the Chamber of Commerce and bring back a recommendation. This is the updated ordinance.
For transparency, as Chair of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee, I was part of the discussions with the County.
Agenda Item 5 – Public Hearing Bella Terra PUD – to rezone 37.73 acres of land from Open Rural, Commercial General, and Commercial Intensive with conditions to Planned Unit Development for a maximum of 155 homes. Bella Terra has come before the Board in the past with other proposed zoning. Planning and Zoning Agency approved this one 5-2 at the March 7 PZA hearing.
Some of the background on past hearings:
March 7, 2023 – request to rezone 26 acres of land from Open Rural and Commercial Intensive with Conditions to PUD for 174 multi-family residential dwelling units. This request was unanimously denied by the Board.
May 25, 2023 – request for a waiver to reapply for rezoning before the required 1 year wait period.
July 18, 2023 – the Board heard the appeal and approved the waiver of the 1 year waiting period with a 3:2 vote, Joseph and Whitehurst being the no votes.
Agenda Item 6 – Fidus Warehouse & RV/Boat Storage – Request to rezone 4.7 acres from Open Rural to Industrial Warehousing with conditions to waive any right to develop the property pursuant to the Live Local Act. This has become a hot button for development. This is located at SR 16, west of Race Track Road. This should not be confused with Race Track Road on the northern border of the county.
Agenda Item 7 – ABC Fine Wine and Sprits – Appeal the PZA denial of a request to allow ABC Fine Wine and Sprits to be established within 1,000 feet of an existing church and school. Materials are here: Agenda Item 7
Agenda Item 10 – Petition to Establish the Orange Branch CDD. This CDD will serve the residential portions of The Landings at St. Johns and The Landings at Greenbriar Planned Unit Developments. Background materials are here: Agenda Item 10
The two PUDs will have a total of 1,349 single family residential units. The CDD is being established to fund improvements to the Infrastructure improvements. This means the future residents of these two communities will be responsible for the yearly CDD fees that will pay for these improvements. Improvements listed are:
Offsite Roadway and Utility Improvements (Wetland Mitigation/Earthwork/Utilities/Pavement/Storm/Electric Relocation)
Master Stormwater Drainage System (Earthwork and Stormwater Facilities)
The establishment of the CDD will grant the CDD powers to finance, fund, plan, establish, acquire, construct, reconstruct, enlarge or extend, equip, operate and maintain systems and facilities for: (1) parks and facilities for indoor and outdoor recreational, cultural, and educational uses; (2) security, including but not limited to guardhouses, fences and gates, electronic intrusion-detection systems, and patrol cars, as authorized and described in Section 190.012(2), Florida Statutes.
Screenshot
Agenda Item 11 – Presentation of the 2024 Live Local Act Glitch Bill. Recent meetings have seen concerns raised about the preemptions allowed by the Live Local Act related to the construction of multi-family developments in commercial, industrial or mixed-use lands. In 2024, the Florida Legislature approved a “glitch bill” to address some of the concerns. At the March 5 meeting the Commissioners requested an update on the Glitch Bill. The two bills are Senate Bill 328 and House Bill 7073. They are currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.
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While it was a short agenda, there were some meaty topics of discussion.
The Meeting began with a Certificate of Recognition welcoming the Open World Armenian Delegation to St. Johns County. The delegation was here as part of a Open World Cultural Exchange program to bring representative of the former Soviet Republic to the United States to learn about American values and our democratic institutions. The Rotary Club puts together the programming for the delegation to learn about participatory government. This delegation was made up of women leaders and St. Johns County was proud to connect them with First Coast women leaders.
Public Safety Update
SJSO assisted with the incident in Jacksonville Beach Sunday night. They also were busy last week with The Player’s Championship and the associated traffic problems. The Corrections Department had their facility and medical inspections, with no violations found. They also shared that Discover and Recover had their grand opening last week. They are focused on helping people with opioid addiction. Learn more at this link: DiscoverRecover
Fire Rescue provided an update on Justin Daily, the firefighter mentioned at the last Commissioner’s meeting who underwent surgery for a brain tumor. He is recovering but still in the hospital. Fire Rescue also had a busy week at The Players last week. They had 100 calls resulting in 22 transports to local hospitals. People are heading out to the beaches – there was a reminder that there are no lifeguards until Memorial Day weekend.
Clerk of the Court’s Report
Focus this week was on Government Finance Professionals Week, recognizing the team focused on finance operations for St. Johns County. These include payroll, accounts receivable, investment management and asset management.
Service Delivery Update
The Service Delivery team focused on libraries and playgrounds Tuesday. If you’re in the northern part of the county, be sure to plan for the “Enjoy, Don’t Destroy” even at Julington Creek Plantation park with Commissioner Whitehurst, a Julington Creek resident, speaking along side representatives from the Sheriff’s Office and Parks and Recreation. Date is April 5, at 10:00 AM.
Consent Agenda
Commissioner Joseph asked to move Consent Agenda Item 8 to the Regular Agenda.
Regular Agenda Items
Agenda Item 3 (the Dobbs Road project) was pulled from the Agenda and continued to the second meeting in April.
Agenda Item 1 was a Request for Approval to Continue Acquisition Process for North Beach Utilities Water/Wastewater System and to Schedule a Required Public Hearing. In August of 2022, the North Beach Utilities system that provides water and wastewater services to 1400 users in Vilano Beach, approached the county with an offer to sell itself to the county. At the time, there was a request for a feasibility review. Having completed that review, they are now requesting the Board to continue the process for the acquisitor. That would include a required public hearing to determine if this acquisition is in the public interest. The public hearing will be held at the May 7, 2024 Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting.
Existing County Service AreasNorth Beach UtilitiesNext Steps for North Beach Utilities
Passed 5-0
Agenda Item 1A was pulled up from the Consent Agenda.
This item is a request to vacate a portion of the Second Street North right of way (in the Sun Valley subdivision in Ponte Vedra.)
A public hearing will be held April 16, 2024. Commissioner Joseph asked for the item to be pulled to the Regular Agenda to make sure the public knew when the hearing would be held.
Agenda Item 2 was the Confirmation of Sean McGee as Fire Chief. Mr. McGee has been serving in this role since October of 2023.
The confirmation was approved unanimously with little public comment.
Agenda Item 4 is a request to rezone 2 acres of land from Residential Single-Family 3 to a PUD for a 19,000 seq ft. freestanding Emergency Room, medical office, and ancillary commercial office space at the corner of Woodlawn Road and SR 16.
Proposed location for ER/Medical Services
Screenshot
This passed 5-0
Agenda Item 5 was a request to rezone .47 acres of land from Commercial General to Residential to allow the build of 3 single-family homes.
Commissioner Joseph raised a concern that the homes may be used as AirBnBs and there was some public comment regarding the same concern. There was some argument that government cannot tell property owners what to do with their property.
The project was approved 4-1 with Commissioner Joseph being the no vote.
Agenda Item 6 is the First Reading of a proposed Ordinance to Establish a Boating Restricted Area at the double-blind curve on Pablo Creek. This began at the October 3 meeting when the Board gave consensus to proceed with an application from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to address a safety concern for this area. Under Florida Statutes put in place in 2023, a business impact statement was required and is included in the presentation. The statement indicates there is no business impact associated with this ordinance.
The contract was approved 4-1 with Commissioner Joseph being the no vote.
Commissioner’s Report
Commissioner Joseph talked about the Library Book Mobile.
Commissioner Whitehurst congratulated Ms. Andrews on the completion of the contract. He also responded to a public comment that the Commissioners do not listen to the public. He pointed out that they did listen to the concerns of the public regarding the moving of the Canright House. The Commissioners approved spending $230,000 to move the house to another location in response to resident’s concerns. Additionally, he wanted to address “perception vs. reality” regarding the growth rate in St. Johns County. He referenced a recent news article pointing the fastest growing counties in Florida and noted that St. Johns County is not in that list.
Commissioner Dean talked about the important work done by Bill Sadowski during his time in the Florida legislature. The Sadowski Coalition is important for creating funding for affordable housing across the state of Florida.
Commissioner Arnold congratulated both the new Fire Chief and the County Administrator.
Administrator’s Report
Ms. Andrews provided an update on the upcoming Comprehensive Plan public meetings:
St. Johns County will hold three more public meetings as part of the Comprehensive Plan and Strategic Plan public outreach in March.
Tuesday, March 26th, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at W.E. Harris Community Center, 400 E. Harris St., Hastings
Wednesday, March 27th, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at The Waterworks Building, 184 San Marco Ave., St. Augustine
Thursday, March 28th, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at Creekside High School, 100 Knights Lane, St. Johns
And Ms. Andrews spoke to her commitment to professional integrity and her 100% support to all Commissioners, no matter how they voted on her contract.
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The opening includes a Certificate of Recognition welcoming the Open World Armenian Delegation to St. Johns County
Agenda Item 1 is a Request for Approval to Continue Acquisition Process for North Beach Utilities Water/Wastewater System and to Schedule a Required Public Hearing. What a mouthful! What is happening here? In August of 2022, the North Beach Utilities system that provides water and wastewater services to 1400 users in Vilano Beach, approached the county with an offer to sell itself to the county. (Note that the agenda item says August 2023 but the back-up materials say August, 2022.) At the time, there was a request for a feasibility review. Having completed that review, they are now requesting the Board to continue the process for the acquisitor. That would include a required public hearing to determine if this acquisition is in the public interest. The public hearing will be held on May 7, 2024.
Agenda Item 2 is Confirmation of Sean McGee as Fire Chief. Mr. McGee has been serving in this role since October of 2023. There was some controversy about the departure of the previous Fire Chief. It would not be surprising to see some public comment referencing that controversy.
Agenda Item 3 – Rezoning Request for Dobbs Road Plant. This request is to rezone 3.8t acres of land from Industrial Warehousing to Heavy Industrial with conditions. This is in relation to Concrete Block Manufacturing at 2035 Dobbs Road. The PZA recommended denial 5-1 on February 15.
Agenda Item 4 is a request to rezone 2 acres of land from Residential Single-Family 3 to a PUD for a 19,000 seq ft. freestanding Emergency Room, medical office, and ancillary commercial office space at the corner of Woodlawn Road and SR 16.
Agenda Item 6 is the First Reading of a proposed Ordinance to Establish a Boating Restricted Area at the double-blind curve on Pablo Creek. This began at the October 3 meeting when the Board gave consensus to proceed with an application from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to address a safety concern for this area. Under Florida Statutes put in place in 2023, a business impact statement was required and is included in the presentation. The statement indicates there is no business impact associated with this ordinance.
Agenda Item 7 is the County Administrator Contract. At past meetings there has been much public comment about the process and the contracts for past Administrators. We can anticipate more commentary as the contract is discussed for approval on Tuesday.
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Tuesday’s meeting began with a Proclamation, presented by Commissioner Krista Joseph, recognizing Flood Awareness Week in St. Johns County
The Proclamation was accepted by John Brown, St. Johns County Flood Plain Manager (bet you didn’t know we had one!)
St. Johns County has over 122,000 acres in the Special Flood Plain Area and over 110 miles of coast line along the Ocean and St. Johns River.
The County wants to raise awareness for residents to help them prepare and protect against flood damage. By their participation in the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, residents are able to purchase flood insurance at reduced rates.
Director Martin from SJSO talked about the efforts to combat retail theft rings that operate across multiple jurisdictions. They conducted a traffic stop that resulted in an arrest that included not only stolen merchandise but narcotics and firearms. The Property Crimes Unit continues to work with local retail stores to combat these crime rings.
Acting Fire Chief Sean McGhee highlighted local charity events with participation by fire department personnel; the Battle of the Badges Boxing Match supporting the Police Athletic League (PAL). They also participated in the Guns and Hoses charity hockey tournament.
He also shared the sad news about one of our local firefighters, Justin Dudley, who has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor and is in need of financial support during this time.
The Public Infrastructure Update began with updates on traffic signal improvements. The updates are now including if there are developer or impact fee funds helping to pay for the improvements.
Pine Island RoadSR 207 at Brinkhoff RoadPacetti RoadSR 207 at Cypress LinksA1A Pedestrian Beacons
Consent Agenda
Commissioner Joseph requested Item 5, PFS AGREE 2023-02 SR 207 Infill Multifamily Proportionate Fair Share Agreement, be moved to the Regular Agenda. This was moved to the Regular Agenda Item 10.
Regular Agenda Items:
Commissioner Dean requested an emergency item be added to the Regular Agenda. There have been complaints from the community about fire and smoke from the Ancient City Wood Recycling Plant near Palencia. Commissioner Dean shared that he had bee in contact with the head of the Department of Environmental Protection about the issue and they were taking steps to address the complaints. The Director of Growth Management, Mike Roberson, shared that the company is operating under a Special Use Permit. All indications at that point were that the company may not be in compliance with the Special Use Permit conditions.
At noon, County AdministratorJoy Andrews provided an update that the Fire Marshall, Fire Rescue, and Growth Management staff were on site and the company was being informed of the County’s intent to revoke their permit.
This was a request for an Incentive AGreement for Acadia Healthcare Company to be located near the intersection of CR 210 and Moon Bay Parkway.
There was similar confusion on this item as on previous economic incentive items. This was not a request to approve the project, it is already allowed. The item was just to approve the economic incentive package requested.
A bit more about the project. “Acadia is a behavioral healthcare service provider that offers inpatient, outpatient, detoxification, and residential treatment.”
The project is expected to bring 239 direct jobs to the county and generate another 191 jobs indirectly.
The Economic Incentive package would cost the County about $1,648,000 over the initial period. Over a 20 year period the company is expected to pay almost $20 million in Property Taxes.
An article in the Jacksonville Business Journal about the development was published here: JAX Business Journal Article – Acadia (subscription required)
Incentive Agreement: 99,000 square ft on CR210 and Moon Bay Parkway 239 High wage jobs. Average annual wage of $75,000 would result in $24.7 million annually in Gross County Product. This is a behavioral health facility that the County worked hard to attract.
This was approved 4-1 with Commissioner Joseph being the no vote.
Agenda Item 2 was the Annual Property Ranking List from the Land Acquisition and Management Program (LAMP) Conservation Board.
After much discussion on how to obtain funds and the need for more funds to support the LAMP program, the list was approved 5-0.
Agenda Item 3 is an Award of a bid for the Shore Drive Trail. As at past meetings, this topic was hotly debated during public comment. The project was first initiated by Commissioner Waldron in 2021. Since that time there have been surveys and public meetings as well as much public comment during Commissioner’s meetings.
The project is construction of an eight foot shared use/multi-use pathway along Shore Drive in the St. Augustine South neighborhood. This trail would connect 2 County Boat Ramps in that area.
Materials can be found here, with pictures and data about the project beginning on page 144. Agenda Item 3
Some details about the project:
ScreenshotScreenshot
Ultimately the bid award was approved 4-1 with Commissioner Joseph voting no.
The Consent Agenda item, PFS AGREE 2023-02 SR 207 Infill Multifamily Proportionate Fair Share Agreement, that was placed at the end of the Regular Agenda was pulled forward to be heard at this time.
This item is the first development being brought forward under the Live Local Act passed in 2023. That Act allows affordable housing to be constructed on land already zoned Commercial Warehouse, without the need for approval by the Commissioners.
The item is to approve the Proportionate Fair Share Agreement that is required for new developments. This one is for 279 multi-family units on 207 near the I-95 interchange.
There was much discussion about the impacts of these developments that do not get approved by the Commissioners. Legally, the Board cannot deny the development being built. Other counties in Florida have sued the State over the Live Local Act. During public comment there were recommendations to join in those lawsuits.
What this issue came down to was, could they deny the build? Not without consequences. The ask was to approve the Proportionate Fair Share Agreement. They could vote no on the PFS but that would only mean the applicant could build without being required to pay for the deficient roads or public infrastructure.
Ultimately it was approved, with Commissioner Joseph voting no, and staff was asked to come back to the Commission with further discussion on the Live Local Act and it’s implications.
Agenda Item 4 was a Rezoning request for the Mills Workforce Housing on Lewis Speedway. The request is to rezone ~24 acres of land for a total of 110 Workforce Housing Units. The project will be built by KB Homes and their representative spoke about the need for more “starter homes” in St. Johns County.
DISCLOSURE: As Chair of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee, I provided a letter of support from the Chamber for this much needed workforce housing project. The letter and my role were referenced in the presentation by Mr. Burnett.
When this was heard at the PZA Meeting there was concern about the number of units and the length of time they are required to be Workforce Housing price capped. The developer has capped the construction at 110 units and extended the timeframe for the Workforce Housing pricing to 5 years from the county required 2 years.
They also worked with the County to develop a plan to install a round-about to help with traffic calming.
The Roundabout would be located here:
Lewis Speedway Roundabout
PZA Member Judy Spiegel spoke during Public Comment and stated that although she voted no at the PZA, that with the modifications made by the developer, she now supports the project and would have voted yes with these modifications.
After much discussion, the project was approved 3-2 with Commissioners Joseph and Whitehurst being the No votes.
Agenda Item 5 was an appeal of a PZA approval for the DeArment Residence at 3780 Coastal Highway. A request for a Zoning Variance to allow the construction of a swimming pool with 15 ft. set back instead of the required 25 ft set back was approved by the Planning and Zoning Agency on November 2. Adjacent neighbors have filed an appeal of this approval.
The request to deny the PZA approval was approved 5-0.
Agenda Item 6 was a request to rezone 273 acres from Planned Rural Development and Open Rural to Planned Rural Development for 54 single family homes.
“PRD 2023-01 Honey Branch Farms, a request to rezone approximately 273 acres of land from Planned Rural Development (PRD) and Open Rural (OR) to Planned Rural Development (PRD) to allow for a maximum of 54 single family homes within approximately 27 acres of Development Area, setting aside the remaining approximately 246 acres for Reserve Area; specifically located on unaddressed property on County Road 208 across from Joe Ashton Road.”
With little discussion the project was approved 5-0
Agenda Item 7 –One North Commercial – a request to remove one condition from a previously approved Commercial Intensive zoning. The request was approved 5-0.
Agenda Item 8 was a transfer of $2900 in funds for the Flagler Estates community Redevelopment Area Reserve for a Spring Festival, also approved 5-0.
Agenda Item 9 – An appointment to the Recreational Advisory Committee to fill a vacancy created by an end of term for Bradly Long by renewing Mr. Long’s term was approved 5-0.
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Beth Tate 