Category: BOCC

Posted in Affordable Housing, BOCC, Essential Worker Housing, St. Johns County

February 21 St. Johns County Commissioners Meeting

Posted on by Beth Tate

What you should know

What’s on the Agenda for the Commissioners next week?

Consent Agenda Items of Interest

There are two items on the Consent Agenda that are worth highlighting. Item 8 is authorization to execute the agreement between St. Johns County and the Florida Department of Transportation related to the construction and construction engineering inspection of four lanes connecting the end of County Road 2209 to State Road 16, approximately 3.26 miles of four lane construction.

Item 10 is awarding a bid and executing a contract to perform construction of the widening of Longleaf Pine Parkway to four lanes from Veteran Parkway to Greenbriar Road. Only Phase 1 can begin. The remainder must wait until payment from development agreements 2022-01 and 2022-02, due March 31, 2023.

Item 8:

The Florida Legislature allocated $8,000,000 in FDOT Grant Funds to St. Johns County for a portion of the construction of CR 2209. The funding supports construction and construction engineering inspection (CEI) oversight of four lanes connecting the existing terminus of CR 2209 to SR 16 approximately 3.26 miles. This item requests authorization to execute the Agreement between St. Johns County and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and to recognize the grant revenue and appropriate the funds for expenditure. No match is required by St. Johns County

Item 10:

SJC Purchasing issued an Invitation for Bids (“IFB”) for the widening of Longleaf Pine Parkway to four lanes from Veterans Parkway to Greenbriar Road. The project scope generally includes clearing, earthwork, paving, signing, pavement marking, drainage, and utility adjustments. All work is to be completed in accordance with St. Johns County, JEA, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), Army Core of Engineers (ACOE) and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Standard Specifications and Permits. The IFB was advertised in accordance with County Purchasing Policy. Three (3) bids were received, with the lowest, responsive, responsible bid being from Baker Constructors, Inc. for a Total Lump Sum Amount of $14,899,000.00 for Phases I, II, and III. County Staff recommends Board approval to award Bid 23-35 to Baker Constructors, Inc., and to execute a contract for completion of the work as specified in Bid 23-35. However, only Phase I is authorized to begin work, until such time as the County receives payment of funds required under Development Agreements No: 2022-01 and 2022-02, at which point County intends to authorize Contractor to proceed with Phases II and III. The County is due payment from Development Agreements No: 2022-01 and 2022-02 by March 31, 2023. Due to their size, Exhibits are available upon request.

Public Comment Time Certain continues at 11:30 – 12:00 PM or at conclusion of the Regular Agenda, whichever comes first.

Regular Agenda Items of Interest

Agenda Item 1 – Presentation of the St. Johns County Surplus and OPEB Investment Portfolios

The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners Investment Policy, Section XVII Reporting, and OPEB Trust Investment Policy, Section XV, requires the Clerk, or designee, to prepare and submit a written report annually on all invested funds to the Board. Included in the report shall be a complete list of all invested funds, the name or type of security in which the funds are invested, the amount invested, the maturity date, earned income, the book value, the market value and the yield on each investment. PFM Asset Management, LLC, is the County’s investment advisor and has prepared the annual reports for the quarter ended September 30, 2022.

Presentation can be found at this link: Agenda Item 1

Agenda Item 2 – Amendment to the Concurrency and Impact Fee Credit Agreement for Grand Oaks PUD revising required transportation mitigation and road impact fee credit amounts. Details below:

Southeast Development Partners, LLC (Applicant) has proposed an Amendment to the Concurrency and Impact Fee Credit Agreement (PFS AGREE 2018-03) for the Grand Oaks PUD to revise the required transportation mitigation and road impact fee credit amount (Amendment). The Grand Oaks Comprehensive Plan Amendment (COMPAMD 2016-08), PUD (PUD 2017-02), and Proportionate Fair Share Agreement (PFS AGREE 2018-03) were approved by the BCC on July 17, 2018, for the development of 999 single family units (maximum 674 non-age restricted and 325 agerestricted), 100,000 sq. ft. of commercial space and 50,000 sq. ft. of office space. PFS AGREE 2018-03 included the requirement to construct the 4-lane widening of SR 16 from San Giacomo to the eastern (main) entrance to the Grand Oaks development, approximately 3.1 miles. The estimated cost of the widening was approximately $15,000,000. The required proportionate share was calculated to be $10,132,643. The applicant proposed in the companion comprehensive plan amendment (COMPAMD 2016-08) to contribute an additional $4,867,357 as public benefit with no impact fee credit for a total of $15,000,000 for transportation mitigation. Payments for each plat were required until the widening of SR 16 was designed (no more than 442 lots can be platted) and construction commenced (no more then 580 lots can be platted). Plats have been approved for 442 lots and mitigation totaling $5,040,000 has been paid and is being held in escrow. The Applicant is requesting to amend PFS AGREE 2018-03 to remove the requirement to construct the widening of SR 16 and instead pay the remaining transportation mitigation to the County. The total transportation contribution of $15,000,000 is being revised to include pre-construction costs/pond acquisitions of $2,100,000; therefore, the total funds to be paid would be $12,900,000. The Applicant is also requesting that the road impact fee credit amount be increased from $10,132,643 to $15,000,000. The Applicant is further requesting that the platting triggers associated with the design and commencement of construction of the widening of SR 16 be deleted.

Agenda Item 3 – ICI Middlebourne PUD – Major Modification to add a car wash facility in the Gate Property within the PUD and add landscaping requirements. This is specific to a parcel on the north side of Longleaf Pine Parkway and south of Veterans Parkway.

Request for a Major Modification to the ICI Middlebourne PUD (Ord. 2018-29, as amended) to (i) add one land use, a Car Wash Facility, to the permitted uses within the PUD solely for the Gate Property; and (ii) add landscaping requirements and a related waiver for commercial and office parcels within the PUD property. The subject property is on an unaddressed parcel located on the north side of Longleaf Pine Parkway, approximately 650 feet south of Veterans Parkway. This item was recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Agency at their regularly scheduled public hearing on 10/06/2022 with a vote of 4 to 1. The Agency discussed the wetlands, trees on site, and the reduced buffer. This item was heard at the 11/01/2022 BCC meeting, where a Denial vote failed; the item was continued to a date uncertain and until a 5-member Board was seated. The Board discussed the existing wetlands, proximity to the residential neighborhood, noise, and landscaping.

TRANSPARENCY – I will be speaking on behalf of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce in response to Agenda items 7 and 8 below.

Agenda Item 7 – Workforce Housing Units – Proposal from the Northeast Florida Builders Association to modify the numeric percentage of dedicated workforce housing units in the Workforce Housing Zoning designation.

This Comprehensive Plan amendment is a companion to an LDC amendment initiated by the Board at its regular meeting on October 18, 2022, and scheduled for first hearing at the February 21, 2023, BCC meeting. This Comprehensive Plan amendment changes two references in Policy A.1.11.1(m) to the numeric percentage of minimum required dedicated workforce housing units in the Workforce Housing Zoning designation and is required to maintain consistency between land code regulations. This CP amendment transmittal was heard by the Planning and Zoning Agency on February 2, 2023, and was recommended for approval with a vote of 6-0. Included in the motion was a recommendation of the proposed changes to the LDC Section 5.11.00 presented by NEFBA.

Agenda Item 8 Workforce Housing Zoning Designation – Modification to the Land Development Code increasing the Maximum Initial Sales Price to $260,00 and decreasing the minimum percentage of overall units to 30%.

The proposed amendment to the Workforce Housing element of Land Development Code, Section 5.11.00 increases the Maximum Initial Sales Price to $260,000 and decreases the minimum percentage of overall units to 30%. The Board of County Commissioners directed Growth Management to draft the amendment on October 18, 2022. The Planning and Zoning Agency recommended approval of the amendment with a 4-2 vote at its December 1, 2022 meeting.

Agenda Item 9 – Update on FEMA Category B Emergency Beach Berm for Hurricanes Ian and Nicole

Hurricanes Ian and Nicole inflicted severe impacts on Florida, resulting in a presidential declaration for federal assistance. FEMA’s Public Assistance program is a Federal grant to aid State and Local governments in returning a disaster area to pre-disaster conditions. The grant is provided to primarily address the repair and restoration of public facilities and infrastructure damaged or destroyed or the restoration of services that were negatively impacted. This update is focused on FEMA’s Category B Emergency Beach Berms. Specifically, eligible locations and volumes, resident easements, project cost, project funding, and project execution.

Agenda Item 10 – FY 2024 Board of County Commissioners Budget Calendar and Initial Budget Guidelines

Agenda Items 11 – 14 – Consideration of appointments to the Health & Human Services Advisory Council (HHSAC), the Tourist Development Council (TDC), the Housing Finance Authority, and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC).

Agenda Item 15 – Time Certain to be heard at 5:01 PM

Second Reading of the Land Development Code Amendments for Veterinary Office, Animal Hospital in Office and Professional Services Use Category.

Posted in BOCC, Florida Legislature, Growth & Development, St. Johns County

Florida Legislative Bills I Am Watching

Posted on by Beth Tate

House Bill 439 – Land Use and Development Regulations

Here’s a bill to watch in this Legislative Session if you are concerned about the future of development in St. Johns County.

House Bill 439, filed by Representative Stan McClain from District 27 (Ocala)

HB 439: Land Use and Development Regulations

GENERAL BILL by McClain

Land Use and Development Regulations; Revises effect of special magistrate’s recommendation; revises local governmental entity notification requirements; revises types of data that comprehensive plans & plan amendments must be based on; requires local government to submit affidavit for specified purposes; requires that EDR be sole publisher of specified estimates; revises elements that must be included in comprehensive plan; revises frequency at which local government must evaluate its comprehensive plan; prohibits local government from adopting plan amendments when it fails to meet certain requirements; revises exceptions to applicability of land development regulations relating to single-family or two-family dwelling building design elements; requires AG to audit county transportation trust fund.

Drilling into the bill, there are some important changes that would further impact how the local Board of County Commissioners would be able to approve or deny new development in the County.

According to the 1000 Friends of Florida this legislation:

  • Eliminates all state planning indicators for “urban sprawl,” instead defining urban sprawl as unplanned development that requires an extension of public facilities by a local government.
  • Expands the definition of an “agricultural enclave” from 1,000 residents to 1,000 residential units, in effect allowing major subdivisions in agricultural areas.
  • Prohibits the denial of a development order for failure to meet level-of-service standards, meaning that insufficient infrastructure (roads, schools, etc.) could not be the reason a local government denies a rezoning or subdivision plat approval.
  • Takes away local government discretion to reject a decision under Florida’s Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act, commonly referred to as “FLUEDRA.” 

Who should pay attention?

Residents who are opposed to rapid growth and development in St. Johns County often complain that the Commissioners aren’t denying applications. They can only deny based on legal grounds. They cannot deny based on the “clamor of the crowd.”

As posted in every St. John County Neighborhood Bill of Rights Notice:

“NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PROCEDURES: During the public hearing, all public comment is welcome, but please be aware that zoning decisions may not be merely based upon citizen “wishes” that are unsubstantiated by any competent facts, i.e. – the “clamor of the crowd” is not a sufficient reason upon which to base a decision, Board of County Commissioners of Brevard County v. Snyder, 627 So.2d 469 (Fla. 1993). However, the Florida courts have clearly held that “fact-based” lay testimony is admissible and may be relied upon as follows: “citizen testimony in a zoning matter is perfectly permissible and constitutes substantial competent evidence, so long as it is fact-based. Mere generalized statements of opposition are to be disregarded, but fact-based testimony is not.” Metropolitan Dade County v. Blumenthal, 675 So.2d 598 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995).”

House Bill 439 further erodes the legal justification for denying a new development by local governments. This is just one example of why it’s important to pay attention to what is happening in Tallahassee.

Current Status:

This bill has been referred to the following committees:

  • Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee
  • Commerce Committee
  • State Affairs Committee

It is now in the Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee

Local Administration Subcommittee

Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

February 7 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners Meeting

Posted on by Beth Tate

What’s up next?

The February 7 Board of County Commissioners (BCC) Meeting looks to have a light agenda and that means possibly a much shorter meeting!

With only 4 items on the Regular Agenda, the morning should go quickly. It will be interesting to see how the new process for General Public Comment at a time certain goes. For Tuesday’s meeting it is at 11:30 Time Certain or at the meeting end, whichever occurs first.

Thus far, the “time certain” approach appears to be disruptive and has resulted in more than a few disgruntled residents as they didn’t make it to the podium before the 30 minutes ended and that meant they still had to wait until the end of the meeting. Will we start seeing a race to the line at 11:30?

 Consent Agenda

There are 37 items on the consent agenda Tuesday. The Consent Agenda is approved as one item and public comment is allowed on the Consent Agenda. Most items on the Consent Agenda are routine in nature. They include approval of final plats, easements, or bill of sales.

Tuesday’s Consent Agenda does include authorization for a notice about a March 7 Hearing for the Vacation of a Right of Way on Bishop Estates Road and a purchase of 3 new ambulances for the St Johns County Fire Rescue Department.

Another item of interest on the Consent Agenda is the Establishment of Civil Penalties for the violation of the Land Development Code governing Short Term Vacation Rentals.

And certainly, of interest to all St. Johns County residents are the Consent Agenda items intended to address Coastal Storm Risk Management.

Regular Agenda Items

First on the agenda is a request from the Sheriff’s Office to add a Fleet Maintenance Building on the site of the current SJSO Training Facility near SR 16 and I-95.

Second on the Agenda is the 2nd reading of an amendment to the Land Development Code, updating the Office and Professional Services Use code to include Veterinary Offices and Animal Hospitals.

Following this item, the Board of County Commissioners will adjourn the meeting and reconvene as the St Johns County Community Redevelopment Agency. This is a technical requirement so they can shift focus to the next item on the agenda. This item is a request from the Flagler Estates CRA Steering Committee to use funds from the Flagler Estates Trust Fund to purchase 2 parcels of land to increase the size of the Flagler Estates Park.

After hearing and voting on this item, the Board will adjourn the meeting of the St Johns County Community Redevelopment Agency and reconvene as the Board of County Commissioners.

The last item on the agenda is the consideration of the appointment of a BCC member to the Value Adjustment Board. Just what is the Value Adjustment Board?

From the Florida Department of Revenue:

“The purpose of the value adjustment board (VAB) is to hear appeals regarding property value assessments, denied exemptions or classifications, ad valorem tax deferrals, portability decisions, and change of ownership or control. Taxpayers or their representatives file petitions with the VAB clerk in the county where the property is located. See the taxpayer guide on Petitions to the Value Adjustment Board for more information.”

The Board of County Commissioners Meeting takes place in the County Auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine, FL. It can also be watched live, on-line at this link GTV Live

Or on Comcast Cable in Southern St. Johns – Channel 3, Northern St. Johns – Channel 29 or 26, in Jacksonville on Channel 26

Posted in Affordable Housing, BOCC, St. Johns County

Update on the January 17 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners Meeting

Posted on by Beth Tate

The first St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners meeting for 2023 was a LONG one!

As predicted, the first Regular Agenda item of the day took about 4 hours pushing many agenda items into late afternoon. The meeting ran for almost 8 hours, including a 30 minute lunch break.

Highlights of the meeting opening items were the Ceremonial Swearing in of Commissioner Roy Alaimo by one of our newly elected County Judges, The Honorable Casey Woolsey.

Public Safety Update

The Public Safety Update for the morning featured newly appointed Interim Fire Chief Scott Bullard. Chief Bullard reported the year end totals of calls for the Fire Rescue being 61,373 total calls with 25,558 of those being EMS calls. 17,225 calls required transport of patients.

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office update came from Russ Martin, Director of Operations. Director Martin reported that vehicle and commercial burglaries continue to be the highest number of crimes in the county and encouraged residents to hold each other accountable to communicate with neighbors and others and remind folks to take your valuables out of your cars and lock your car doors.

Regular Agenda Items

As anticipated, most of the morning was taken up by the presentation of the Colonel Hinman Intermodal Exchange Facility (CHIEF) proposed in District 3. This topic took 4 hours in the Planning and Zoning Agency meeting and similarly, took about 4 hours of the County Commissioners Meeting.

CHIEF was presented on behalf of Colonel Hinman by James Whitehouse and Heather Neville.

Reminder “What is CHIEF?”

This is a “Request for a Large-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use Map designation of approximately 214.13 acres of land, located at 2775 County Road 214, from Residential-B (Res-B) to Industrial (I) with a text amendment prohibiting Heavy Industrial uses on the subject property.”

What is included in this proposal?

“This is a request to amend the Future Land Use Map from Residential-B (Res-B) to Industrial (I) for approximately 214.13 acres of land to allow for an Intermodal Distribution Facility with rail access to the adjoining Florida East Coast railway. The facility is proposed to contain up to 900,000 square feet of warehouse, intermodal terminal uses, and a commuter rail service. A text amendment has been provided by the applicant that prohibits Heavy Industrial uses on the subject property, which would be a permitted use within the Industrial Future Land Use Map designation.”

Full document with details can be found here:

CHIEF Request for approval

There were many people in the audience wearing green buttons that said “Say Yes to High paying jobs in St. Augustine.” These were people prepared to speak in favor of the proposal for the CHIEF project.

Concerns about the proposal

There are several concerns about this proposal, not least of them being that the property is bounded by residential areas and would have impact on longtime and future residents of this part of the county.

The applicant provided an Economic Impact Study indicating the proposed project would “support over 3,000 jobs, generating $137 million in annual earnings and contribute $374 million to GDP.” This would be generated by building 850,000 sq. ft of warehousing space and a 50,000 sq. ft. intermodal truck terminal.

At the time of review with the PZA, there were still several outstanding staff comments from the county zoning division. It did not appear those questions had been answered before the County Commissioners Meeting.

Included in the comments are several concerns from the Environmental Division because this property is surrounded by residential land and is also adjacent to Moultrie Creek and to Conservation Easements. Even with the prohibition on heavy industrial uses, the Industrial category permits high intensity use that is “potentially inconsistent with surrounding environmentally sensitive areas.” Notably part of the wetlands included in this property are part of the floodway headwaters to Moultrie Creek.

Much of the presentation focused on the jobs and benefit to the county by building this Intermodal Facility.

Post Presentation Comments:

At the conclusion of the presentation, Commissioner Joseph asked a question about how a piece of property could get access to the rail line, as included in the proposal. The answer about the process included an acknowledgement that the property owner does not have that access at this point.

Commissioner Joseph also asked about access to I-95 and how could this be successful without clear access to I-95. This led to a discussion about the 2 lane roads that would have be to traversed by heavy truck traffic to get to I-95, should this be approved.

As Public Comment began, one speaker was recognized speaking on behalf of the Vermont Heights Community, Colonel Thomas Mark Turner. Because he was representing a list of 23 residents, he was allowed to speak for 10 minutes. He presented himself as a Master Planner and laid out the reasons why this property was the wrong location for the proposed project.

Public Comment went on for over an hour before it was interrupted by the “Time Certain for Public Comment” scheduled for 11:30 – 12:00. While the intent of the “Time Certain” for public comment is positive, it seems to be disruptive to the process to interject public comment in the middle of the on-going presentation.

Interruption for Time Certain Public Comment

General Public Comment in the “Time Certain” portion included comments from residents of Marsh Landing who are STILL seeking solutions to the flooding issues in Marsh Landing. This topic has been coming up for many months and has yet to be resolved.

Some public comments included what has become a trend recently, a reminder to the Commissioners of the Oath of Office they swore to, “To protect citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” We saw this at the Legislative update earlier in January, as well.

Back to CHIEF Presentation

After this “Time Certain” and a lunch break of 30 minutes, the Commissioners returned to the topic of the CHIEF proposal. Mr. Whitehouse spent 30 minutes on his rebuttal to the public comments and questions.

All Commissioners acknowledged the economic benefits of the project, but the over-riding concerns were about compatibility with the surrounding neighborhoods and the traffic considerations on the existing roads. The project was unanimously denied after over 4 hours of discussion.

2023 Roadway and Transportation List of Priority Projects

The list of projects presented is found at this link:

2023 Transportation Priority Projects

Some highlights include continued work on CR 2209, the CR 210 and US1 Interchange, a Planning study for an Intermodal Transportation Center (Not the CHIEF project being proposed in Tuesday’s meeting), and a study for a Southeast Commuter Rail Service from Downton Jacksonville to St. Augustine (also not the CHIEF proposal of Tuesday’s meeting.)

Commissioner Dean recommended an amendment moving Item #4, the widening of SR 16 from International Golf Parkway to Outlet Mall Entrance to #1, thus shifting everything else down one row. This amendment was approved 4:1 so the list, as amended, was approved.

Public Housing Authority

Item #9 on the agenda was an Informational presentation on a Public Housing Authority (PHA) for St. Johns County. This presentation was intended to share the objectives of a PHA and the process for creating a PHA should the BOCC decide to act on the request from numerous St. Johns County residents to implement a PHA.

The presentation can be found here:

Public Housing Authority Presentation

Several residents spoke about the need for a Public Housing Authority as another way to create affordable housing options in the county. Commissioners Joseph, Alaimo, and Whitehurst spoke against the need for the additional bureaucracy of a public housing authority. Commissioners Arnold and Dean spoke in favor. The vote for a Public Housing Authority failed 3:2.

Rather than summarize the discussion among the commissioners before their vote, readers may be interested in hearing the discussion directly from the Commissioners. It can be found here:

Commissioners Comments on PHA

State of the County

The last big item on the agenda Tuesday (Item 14) was the State of the County presented by our County Administrator, Hunter Conrad.

A video was presented and can be viewed here:

Video on State of the County

Closing Comments

As anticipated, in closing Public Comments there was a concern raised about the appointment of Commissioner Alaimo as he does not currently live in District 3.

Closing comments from the Commissioners included:

– a suggestion from Commissioner Joseph to start a small marketing campaign to encourage citizens to work on beautifying the county.

– an ask from Commissioner Whitehurst to Legal to look into an ordinance about panhandling as Clay County recently successfully passed a panhandling ordinance.

It was, indeed, a long, long day with the Commissioners. There will be a follow-up article on the Public Housing Authority request. Watch for it!

Posted in Affordable Housing, BOCC, St. Johns County

What’s on the St. Johns County BOCC Agenda for January 17?

Posted on by Beth Tate

The Agenda for the January 17 Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Meeting has some interesting topics included. It could be a very long day!

Why?

The items at the beginning of every BOCC meeting are generally benign and, with one exception, Tuesday is no different.

The meetings always begin with Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, the Clerk of Court’s Report, Deletions and Additions to the Consent Agenda and Regular Agenda and Approval of the Regular Agenda.

One item in the beginning of the agenda for Tuesday that may have some interest during public comment is the “Ceremonial Oath of Office” for our newest Commissioner, Roy Alaimo, who was appointed by Governor DeSantis in December.

Why is this of particular interest? Word is, he was formally sworn in in December and has already been speaking with constituents. That may be cause for some of our County Activists who were concerned about this appointment to speak out about that during Public Comment.

There is 30 minutes at a Time Certain from 11:30 – 12:00 PM for Public Comments.

There are two items up for discussion at Tuesday’s Meeting that could take up a good portion of the meeting. Agenda Items 1 and 2 are about the Colonel Hinman Intermodal Exchange Facility (CHIEF) being proposed in District 3. This topic was the only item covered in the 4-hour Planning and Zoning Agency (PZA) meeting last week. Video and transcript of the meeting can be found here:

PZA Meeting – January 5

What is CHIEF?

The Background Information in Tuesday’s Agenda says this is a “Request for a Large-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use Map designation of approximately 214.13 acres of land, located at 2775 County Road 214, from Residential-B (Res-B) to Industrial (I) with a text amendment prohibiting Heavy Industrial uses on the subject property.”

After the 4-hour discussion at the PZA, there was not a majority vote obtained so this was considered a denial of the application that now comes to the BOCC for approval to transmit to the State.

You can read more about CHIEF in this article from the Jacksonville Business Journal (warning – paywall.)

JAX Biz Journal – CHIEF

The intent of “Transmittal to the state” is for the state agencies to review and send back their comments and concerns, or approval. We have seen in the past that there is seldom much feedback from the State.  

What is included in this proposal?

“This is a request to amend the Future Land Use Map from Residential-B (Res-B) to Industrial (I) for approximately 214.13 acres of land to allow for an Intermodal Distribution Facility with rail access to the adjoining Florida East Coast railway. The facility is proposed to contain up to 900,000 square feet of warehouse, intermodal terminal uses, and a commuter rail service. A text amendment has been provided by the applicant that prohibits Heavy Industrial uses on the subject property, which would be a permitted use within the Industrial Future Land Use Map designation.”

Full document with details can be found here:

CHIEF BOCC Agenda Item

Concerns about the proposal

There are several concerns raised about this proposal, not least of them being that the property is bounded by residential areas and would have impact on existing longtime and future residents of this part of the county.

Some interesting details were brought out in the PZA meeting about the proposal last week. The applicant states that the potential Commuter Rail system was discussed with Jacksonville Transit Authority (JTA)and that JTA is in favor of the proposed Commuter Rail Station at this location. They also indicate that the Florida East Coast (FEC) railway supports the proposed project that would be utilizing their rail lines. It does not appear that any documentation was provided to back up the verbal assertions by the applicant.

The applicant provided an Economic Impact Study indicating the proposed project would “support over 3,000 jobs, generating $137 million in annual earnings and contribute $374 million to GDP.” This would be generated by building 850,000 sq. ft of warehousing space and a 50,000 sq. ft. intermodal truck terminal.

At the time of review with the PZA, there were still several outstanding staff comments from the county zoning division. Included in the comments are concerns from the Environmental Division because this property is surrounded by residential land and is also adjacent to Moultrie Creek and to Conservation Easements. Even with the prohibition on heavy industrial uses, the Industrial category permits high intensity use that is “potentially inconsistent with surrounding environmentally sensitive areas.” Notably part of the wetlands included in this property are part of the floodway headwaters to Moultrie Creek.

Also, during the PZA meeting there was lively discussion about clearing that has taken place on the property that may not have been approved through the appropriate state agencies. While the applicant asserted they were in compliance with Florida Statutes, there was little to no documentation provided supporting that assertion and one member of the PZA pushed back that this clearing was not in line with accepted Best Practices.

With the many concerns raised during the PZA meeting and the numerous concerns from neighboring residents, this discussion at Tuesday’s BOCC meeting promises to be lively!

Roadway Priority Projects

Also on the Agenda for Tuesday is Item 8, the 2023 Roadway and Transportation List of Priority Projects. This is the list of project priorities that the county is asking to be prioritized for potential funding in the new fiscal year of FDOT’s Work Program.

The full list of proposed projects can be found in the Agenda item here:

St. Johns County Priority Projects Agenda

Some highlights include continued work on CR 2209, the CR 210 and US1 Interchange, a Planning study for an Intermodal Transportation Center (Not the CHIEF project being proposed in Tuesday’s meeting), and a study for a Southeast Commuter Rail Service from Downton Jacksonville to St. Augustine (also not the CHIEF proposal of Tuesday’s meeting.)

Public Housing Authority

Item #9 on the agenda is an Information presentation on a Public Housing Authority (PHA) for St. Johns County. This presentation will share the objectives of a PHA and the process for creating a PHA should the BOCC decide to act on the request from concerned St. Johns County residents to implement a PHA.

As I have written previously, St. Johns County has an affordable housing problem and a PHA could potentially be one tool to help address that problem. I have heard from residents both for and against the creation of a PHA so this should be an interesting topic on Tuesday.

State of the County

The last big item on the agenda Tuesday (Item 14) will be the State of the County presented by our County Administrator, Hunter Conrad.

Tuesday promises to be a long and interesting day for the BOCC meeting! Pack a lunch!

I’ll be reporting back on the highlights later in the week.