BOCC – Page 5 – Beth Tate

What’s Ahead at the June 18 Board of County Commisioner’s Meeting?

Posted on June 15, 2024 by Beth Tate

Tuesday’s meeting does not look to be a long one. There are no major Comp Plan Amendments on the agenda that day.

The meeting will open with 2 Proclamations: July as Parks and Recreation Month and recognizing the American Flag Rescue Program.

Consent Agenda Items

Of interest in the Consent Agenda:

Item 7 – Proportionate Fair Share Agreement for the Secession Development

“KG Island Designs, LLC (Owner) has proposed a Proportionate Fair Share Agreement (Agreement) to mitigate the project’s transportation impacts to US 1 from Old Moultrie Road to Wildwood Drive, pursuant to Section 11.09.04.B of the Land Development Code in order to meet transportation concurrency requirements for the Secession Subdivision for the development of 99 single family units located on Watson Road west of US 1 to be developed in the existing zoning category of RS-2 and RS-2 with conditions, and future land use designation of Residential B. Access is proposed directly to Watson Road, as extended, and to the existing Devonshire Dr. within Watson Woods Phase I. There is no connection proposed to Carter Rd. The proportionate fair share is calculated to be $1,090,553.00 as detailed in Exhibit B of the Agreement (PFS). The proposed Agreement includes a provision for cost indexing to adjust the proportionate fair share payment that was assessed based on 2023 FDOT cost per mile models annually beginning January 1, 2025 until full payment has been received by the County.Road impact fee credit is included as a component of the Agreement to be awarded upon the County’s receipt of the PFS payment that is required prior to construction plan approval.”

Link to materials here: Consent Agenda Item 7

Consent Agenda Item 17 is likely to generate public comment. This item is to transfer $800,000 from the General Fund Reserve to the County Attorney account to cover outside legal expenses. The cost of outside legal counsel is often a topic of discussion in Public Comment. Materials are here: Consent Agenda Item 17

Regular Agenda Items

Agenda Item 1 is the Constitutional Officers’ Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Presentation from the Supervisor of Elections. Materials can be found here: Supervisor of Elections Budget

Agenda Item 2 is a hearing of interest to Julington Creek Plantation Residents. This is a request for a non-zoning variance for the Julington Creek Plantation Bald Eagle Management Plan Amendments.

“The subject properties currently consist of three developed parcels, parcel 11 (Plantation Park), parcel 18 (Administration Building), and parcel 19 (Plantation Recreational Facility), of the Julington Creek Master Development Plan. These parcels are part of the Julington Creek PUD and have a Future Land Use of Julington Creek DRI. The properties are located east of State Road 13 North and south of Race Track Road, directly abutting Davis Pond Boulevard and Durbin Creek Boulevard. The Bald Eagle Nest, SJ-07, is located southwest of the properties within a St. Johns River Water Management District Conservation Easement (O.R.B. 929 PG. 684) approximately 221’ from Davis Pond Boulevard to the north. The applicant desires to amend and restate the Julington Creek BEMP text to allow construction of recreational or commercial improvements within parcels 11, 18, and 19 of the Julington Creek Master Development Plan to be completed during the Bald Eagle Nesting Period. Specifically, the applicant desires to update, expand and remodel within Parcels 11, 18 and 19. The text amendment now includes prohibition of the use of bright color schemes on the exteriors of the proposed recreational and commercial buildings which could create a visual impact on the Bald Eagle. The proposed amendment also includes that Bald Eagle monitoring shall be conducted pursuant to current FWS Guidelines for any construction activities within the subject parcels during the Nesting Period as described within Section VI. Monitoring, part F, of the revised BEMP.”

Materials for this item can be found here: Agenda Item 2 – Julington Creek Eagle Mgmt

Location of Eagles Nest and construction areas

Agenda Item 3 is a request for a Special Use Permit to allow for the expansion of the existing JEA Wastewater Treatment Facility at 1245 Reclamation Drive. This was unanimously approved by the PZA on May 16, 2024.

Materials are here: Agenda Item 3

Agenda Item 4 is a request to rezone .43 acres of land from Commercial Neighborhood to Residential, Manufactured/Mobile Home or Single Family to allow for one single family home on each of 2 platted lots.

Materials are here: Agenda Item 4

Agenda Item 5 is a request for a Non-Zoning Variance to the Land Development Code to allow for more than one driveway for a. Single Family residential unit at 241 State Road 16.

Materials are here: Agenda Item 5

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BOCC, Comprehensive Plan

What’s Ahead at the June 4, 2024 St. Johns county Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on June 2, 2024 by Beth Tate

There are no proclamations for this meeting.

Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda Item 5 – LAMP purchase recommendations seem to be hot topics recently and this is one for the purchase of 6.8 acres of land in Elkton.

Check out the details here: Consent Agenda Item 5

Consent Agenda Item 8 – modifying land use to add a library to the permitted uses of the Northeast Regional Park in Nocatee.

Details are here: Consent Agenda Item 8

Regular Agenda

Agenda Item 1 is the presentation of the budges for the Constitutional Officers; St. Johns County Sheriff, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, and the Property Appraiser.

The link is here: Constitutional Officers Budgets

Highlights:

The Sheriff is requesting a budget of $128,702,884 for the 2025 year.

The Clerk of the Court is requesting a budget of $4,477,646.

Agenda Item 2 is Presentation of the Annual Reports of Boards and Committees. This includes reports from the 20 boards appointed by the BOCC.

Presentation is here: Boards and Committees Annual Reports

Agenda Item 3 is the Pavo Economic Incentive request continued from the May 21 BOCC meeting because the applicant was not present.

The application is for incentives to develop a total of 22,680 Sq. Ft of speculative industrial/office space (no known tenant) near the intersection of I-95 an dInternational Golf Parkway. They are seeking incentives of $107,224 with anticipated net benefit to the county of 387,933.

The full report is here: Economic Incentive Request

Agenda Item 4 is the Adoption Hearing for updates to the Comprehensive Plan to bring it into compliance with Florida statutes (HB 1379) passed in 2023. The transmittal was approved at the BCC on April 16, 2024.

Full details are at this link: Comp Plan Update

Agenda Item 5 is a petition to add 102.96 acres to the current ~437 acre Entrada CDD.

Details are here: Entrada CDD Expansion

Agenda Item 6 is a request to rezone 1.52 acres of land from Residential, Single Family to Industrial Warehousing for the purpose of building a 189,320 Sq. Ft RV & Boat Storage Facility. This parcel is located at the intersection of Avenue D and 1^st Street, west of US 1.

Details are here: Details of RV Boat Storage request

Agenda Items 7 and 8 are interesting because this seeks to provide what may be the first Charter School in St. Johns County.

The request is to remove 5 acres of land from the Treaty Grounds Planned Unit Development and to rezone those 5 acres to Open Rural to allow for a K-8 Charter School and Early Learning Cetner at 1600 Brinkhoff Road (near SR 207.)

Details are here: Agenda Item 7 and Agenda Item 8

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Affordable Housing, BOCC, Comprehensive Plan, St. Johns County

What’s Ahead at the May 7 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on May 5, 2024 by Beth Tate

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, 2^nd Reading. This is related to the County’s Local Preference Policy for purchasing.

The details are at this link: Local Preference Policy

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.

Details can be found here: Agenda Item 2

Agenda Items 3 and 4 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.

Details are at these links: Agenda Item 3 and Agenda Iem 4

This item is anticipated to be a lengthy discussion with lots of public comment.

Agenda Item 5 – Pappy and 210 Commercial This is a modification to the Fiore Industrial Park PUD, Phase III to include:

Clarify the permitted uses for Phase III to allow a Self-Storage Facility
Increase the total allowable building area for Phase III from 59,000 sqft to 145,000 sqft
Increase the maximum height of buildings from 35 feet to 60 feet for Phase III only
Revise the Accesses to Phase III
Reduce and Update the Buffering requirements
Update the Phasing Dates

Details are here: Agenda Item 5

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.

Details are here: Mai Office Complex

Agenda Item 9 – St. Marks Industrial Park

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.

Details are here: Agenda item 9

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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BOCC, St. Johns County

What’s Ahead at the April 2 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Beth Tate

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.

Learn more here: Game On Triathlon

Link to Materials: Consent Agenda Item 22

Regular Agenda

Agenda Item 1 – Regional Park and Community Service Center Plan is a review of a plan for 4 full-service regional parks Parks Presentation

Agenda Item 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

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 – 1^st 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.

Materials are here: Agenda Item 4

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.

Link to materials is here: Bella Terra PUD

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.

Materials are here: Agenda Item 6

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)
Roadway Infrastructure (Pavement/Storm)
OnsiteLift Station/Master Utilities (WM/San/Reuse)
Entry and Pod Hardscape (Signage and Mail Kiosks)
Landscape and Irrigation Improvements
Common Areas and Neighborhood Parks
Common Amenity
Traffic Circle Improvements
Tree Mitigation for onsite impacts
Electrical Conduits and Street Lights
Wetland Mitigation for onsite impacts (40 Acres)

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.

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.

Links to Bills:

Senate Bill

House Bill

Link to the Presentation is here: Live Local Glitch Bill Presentation

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BOCC, St. Johns County

What’s Ahead at the March 19 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Beth Tate

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.

Background materials are here: Agenda Item 1

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.

Materials can be found here: Agenda Item 2

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.

Back-up materials are here: Agenda Item 3

Link to the PZA discussion is here: PZA discussion of Agenda Item 3

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

Background materials are here: Agenda Item 4

Agenda Item 5 is request to rezone .47 acres of land from Commercial General to Residential to allow the build of 3 single-family homes.

Background materials are here: Agenda Item 5

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.

Background materials here: Agenda Item 6

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.

This is a 4 year contract with option to renew.

The contract details are at this link: Agenda Item 7 – County Administrator Contract

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