Category: St. Johns County

Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Summary of the September 19 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on by Beth Tate

Tuesday’s meeting was another long day with some important discussion points throughout the day.

The full agenda can be found here: BOCC Agenda 9/19/23

During the Public Safety Update, Director Martin from the SJSO shared some of the mental health initiatives they are engaged in, including working with inmates pre-release to prepare them for success upon release. They are seeing good results here. They also have a partnership with Social Services to engage a mental health specialist jwith first responders to address these related issues. 

The Supervisor of Elections  shared some important updates. Every mailbox in St. Johns County should have received the new voters election guide. They are doing their bi-annual voter list maintenance, as required under new state laws. Every voter who has not voted in the last 2 General Elections gets a notice asking them to update their information. In St. Johns County that notice went to 17,000 registered voters. They received 1500 responses with a good portion of the notices being returned for a bad address. For voters who did not respond, or their correspondence was returned, they will be marked as “inactive” voters. If they show up to vote in a 2024 or 2026 election, poll workers will confirm they are a St. Johns County resident and they will be returned to the active voter rolls. If they do not vote in these elections, they will be dropped from the voting rolls. We currently have 213,00 registered voters in St. Johns County. A question was asked about the use of drop boxes. Ms. Oakes shared that all drop off boxes are located inside early voting locations and can only be accessed for drop off of ballots during manned hours.

Here’s a link to information on the List Maintenance process: Voter Roll List Maintenance

She also reminded citizens that they are welcome to schedule a tour of the Supervisor of Elections offices where they can learn about the process. I have done this tour and highly recommend it!

Here’s a link to resgister for a tour: Register for a tour

Consent Agenda

Commissioner Dean asked to move Consent Agenda Item 30, Six Month Extension of Tourism Marketing Contract from the Consent Agenda to Regular Agenda Discussion.

Here is the link to Consent Agenda Item 30: Consent Agenda Item 30

Commissioner Dean’s concern was that the 6 month extension was not sufficient. This was discussed and a 12 month extension was approved unanimously during the Regular Agenda items.

Regular Agenda Items

Agenda Item 1 is in District 2, Elevation Pointe was approved 4-1 with Commissioner Joseph being. the no vote. The request was to increase wetland impacts with a decrease in preserved wetlands, open space, and upland buffers and was driven by the addition of a Publix supermarket as a tenant in the shopping center.

Presentation is here: Elevation Pointe

Location of Elevation Pointe

Agenda Item 2, also in District 2, was the Deer Run Road PUD. This request to rezone 25 acres of land from Open Rural to Planned Unit Development for 26 duplexes, total of 52 dwelling units was denied unanimously. Concerns noted were the additional traffic on Holmes Blvd and Four Mile Road and impact to schools.

Presentation is here: Deer Run Road PUD

Agenda Item 3 is in District 5. The Whole 9 Yards is in the Airport District was to rezone 1.37 acres of land from Open Rural to Industrial Warehousing. Many of the same concerns from local residents were voiced at the BOCC meeting. Commissioner Dean noted that this business has been operating for 7 years and is seeking. tocorrect the zoning to reflect the usage. They added some conditions of operation and the project was approved 5-0.

Presentation: Whole 9 Yards

Agenda Item 6 was a combined public hearing item including the Approval of the 2023 Inventory List of Land available for Affordable Housing in St. Johns County and the available affordable housing strategies through the Live Local Act that passed in the 2023 Legislative session.

This is an important topic for addressing attainable housing in St. Johns County.

Presentation is here: 2023 Inventory of Land

A review of the inventory list shows almost 300 properties, many of them in West Augustine, Elkton, and the Armstrong area. During Public Comment questions were asked about how to make this inventory of properties available for affordable housing. Many have been on the inventory for years but there is not sufficient infrastructure to support building on the property.

County Owned Property available for affordable housing
CRA/County Owned Property available for affordable housing

Also during public comment was noted that affordable housing, with government assistance, is targeted. for individuals making between 30-60% of Area Median Income (AMI.) In St. Johns County that is the range of $37,000 to $70,000. It is impotant to note that in St. Johns County that range includes our teachers, deputies, firefighters, and other public workers as well as many other employees in the service industry.

During discussion on the Live Local Act, Commissioner Alaimo indicated he would like to have staff research and bring back an Ad Valorem tax exemption for affordable housing, similar. to what was done in Clay County.

The motion to bring back an ordinance around the tax exemption was approved 4-1, with the no vote from Commissioner Joseph.

This is a very complex and sensitive topic. I encourage you to watch the full presentation and discussion at this link: Agenda Item 6

Agenda Item 8 – Public-Private Partnership with SJC Cultural Events, Inc for Operations and Management of St. Johns County Cultural Events Public Private Partnership – SJC Cultural Events

This partnership would allow a nonprofit oganization, Cultural Events, Inc. to operate the St. Augustine Ampitheater, Ponte Vedra Concert Hall and local cultural events like Sing Out Loud. andthe Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series. This was approved unanimously

Agenda Item 9 was the Second Reading of Proposed Amendments to the St. Johns County prohibited Holiday Activity Ordinance for Sexual Offenders and Sexual Predators, followed by Agenda Item 10, the Second Reading of the Proposed Amendments to the Child Safety Zone Ordinance. Both were approved 5-0.

Holiday Ordinance

Child Safety Zone

Agenda Item 11 is a Proposed Settlement of Lupoli v. St. Johns County and Guilmar, LLC Litigation and Statutory Demand. This stems from a lawsuit filed by residents as a result of a denial decision made by the Board of County Commissioners in 2022. Settlement Proposal.

The Board approved the settlement that will have a payment of $450,000 to Guilmar and $30,000 for attorney fees.

This was a reminder that the Board of Commissioner can put the county at risk of a lawsuit if their project denials are not based in sound legal facts.

Agenda Item 12 is to consider the proposed 2024 St. Johns County Legislative Action Plan. You can read the presentation here: SJC Legislative Agenda Proposal

and watch the presentation and discussion here: Legislative Priorities

During discussion, Commissioner Dean asked to add an item to the priority list. This would be to request funds for renourishment of a small section of beach south of Ponte Vedra Beach.

During the discussion, there was conversation about the priority of asking the Legislative Delegation to work on modifying the PECO (Public Education Capital Outlay) requirements for rapidly growing counties like St. Johns County. Mr. Tecler, who was giving. the presentation, noted that this has been discussed with the folks. inTallahassee previously and again this year. There. are indications it is being looked at closely.

Commissioner Whitehurst spoke about coordinating with the School District in this effort and getting them on board with supporting the change.

Here are some highlights from the presentation:

Improve the Transportation Infrastructure

  • East-West Corridors Upgrade State Road 16, County Road 210, State Road 208, State Road 207, and State Road 206 to provide traffic relief, improve connectivity, fortify hurricane evacuation routes, and enhance safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  
  • North-South Corridors Address overcapacity along US 1 and I-95 and strengthen connectivity between employment centers and residential communities by completing extensions of County Road 2209, State Road 312/313, and related connectors.
  • State Road 16 St. Johns County requests $20 million in state appropriations to design and construct a new 4-lane divided roadway with a multiuse path from International Golf Parkway to I-95

Strengthening Community Resilience

  • Fire safety improvements
  • Beach stabilization and renourishment
  • Youth Mental Health
  • Changes in state laws around distance of commercial sales of nicotine products to schools
  • Youth Sports

Sustaining Economic Prosperity

  • Vilano Beach Street Improvements
  • World Golf Village Hall of Fame site improvements
  • School Capacity – importantly “School Capacity St. Johns County requests the Legislature identify and modify provisions of law and/or administrative rules that may limit the construction of new school facilities, or tie the authorization of construction of new schools to existing school capacity. Additional flexibility will facilitate strategic planning for high-growth districts.”
  • Revisions to the Live Local Act. “Affordable Housing Compatibility Revise the Live Local Act to restore local government review of multifamily housing projects proposed for land zoned for commercial or industrial uses.”
  • Hastings Water infrastructure
  • Unfunded Mandates –  “Request the Legislature oppose legislation that requires utilities to expend funds providing information, reports, or other documents to the State without providing a funding source for development of those reports. Specifically, the Legislature should pay careful attention to unfunded reporting mandates related to SB 712 (2020), HB 53 (2021), SB 64 (2021), and HB 1379 (2023).”

Protecting Natural and Historic Resources

  • Historic Farming Communities
  • Consider the City of St. Augustine as a location for the State Museum of BlackHistory

Commissioner’s Reports

Commissioner Joseph shared she would like to consider a rollback for millage for the 2025 budget.

Commissioner Alaimo thanked staff for their work on the ceremony recognizing the 200th Anniversary. ofthe Treat of Moultrie Creek.

Commissioner Dean shared that Lowe’s Lumber is opening a new store at US1 and CR 210, provigind 300 new jobs. He also formalized the requst to staff to arrange a meeting between the Board and the School Board to discuss support for revising the PECO funding statute.

Commissioner Arnold expressed appreciation for the work staff did on the Hasting Library meeting “re-do” and encouraged residents. toattend the World Golf Village workshops. onSeptember 27 and 28.

Commissioner Whitehurst expressed concerns about new preemption bills that may come up in the 2024 Legislative session. He wants the county to work with the Florida Association of Counties to push back on these bills.

County Administrator Report

Interim County Administrator Joy Andrews requested and received received unanimous approval to appoint Jamie Locklear as Director of Purchasing. She also shared a new website for the Hastings community as they work on the comprehensive plan.

Last item for the day was the second Public Hearing of the millage rates and 2024 Fiscal Year Budget.

The Board unanimously approved the final budget of $1,665,664,624. Included in the budget are funds for 45 new firefighters, add 35 hours to Libraries for Sunday and Monday operations and a $18 assessment for solid waste collections.

The Board unanimously adopted a millage rate of 6.8265%. 

Presentation can be found here: TRIM and 2024 Budget Presentation

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Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Agenda Items for the Upcoming September 19 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on by Beth Tate

Board of County Commissioner’s Meetings are the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays each month at the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View.

At 5:01 Time Certain will be a special meeting, the second required Public Hearing — St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners Adoption of Final Millage Rates & Budget for FY 2024

With only one proclamation next week, the meeting should move quickly into the Regular Agenda.

The full agenda can be found here: BOCC Agenda 9/19/23

There are 31 items on the Consent with some of particular interest.

Consent Agenda

Item 13 on the Consent Agenda is of interest to those who travel the 210 Corridor or have students at Beachwalk High School.

Bid No: 23-84 Construction of Traffic Signal CR 210 West at Badger Park Drive Intersection

“SJC Purchasing solicited sealed bids to construct a traffic signal at the intersection of CR 210 and Cumberland/Badger Park Dr. This signalization will occupy both the northwest and southeast corners of the identified intersection. The Contractor will be responsible for the installation of the signal and the necessary ITS with connections to the nearest adjacent signals. These adjacent signals being located at the CR 210 intersections of both Beachwalk Blvd. and Moon Bay Pkwy. All work is to be performed in accordance with the specifications and plans provided within the solicitation. The Bid was advertised in accordance with the County Purchasing Policy. Three (3) Contractors submitted bids, with the most responsive and responsible Bid submitted by American Lighting and Signalization, LLC, at a lump sum cost of $900,340.00. Staff recommends award of Bid No: 23-84; Construction of Traffic Signal CR 210 West at Badger Park Drive Intersection, to American Lighting and Signalization, LLC, as the most responsive and responsible bidder, and execution of a contract for the completion of the specified project at the total lump sum cost of $900,340.00.”

Read the info here: Consent Agenda Item 13

“3.1 Contract Time 3.1.1 Contractor shall commence the Work within ten (10) calendar days following receipt of the County’s Notice to Proceed and shall substantially complete all Work within two hundred ten (210) consecutive calendar days as may be extended pursuant to Paragraph 9.2 of this Contract. Final Completion shall be reached within thirty (30) consecutive calendar days after Substantial Completion.”

Consent Agenda item 19 is Authorization to Write Off Accounts Receivable Over One Year Past Due

“Sound accounting practice dictates that annually, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners considers writing off delinquent Emergency Medical Service (EMS), Utility Services & Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s accounts that have been fully processed through the County’s collection system and therefore deemed un-collectible over one year past due. These accounts have generally been sent to collection agency and, when appropriate, reported to a Credit Bureau. Specific to Utility Services accounts, utility deposits are applied to a customer’s outstanding account balance. The percentage of EMS write-offs to current year collected revenues is estimated to be 10.9%. For Utility Services the percentage of write-offs to collected revenues is less than one-quarter of 1% of annual water and sewer sales. Additionally, the Clerk of the Court Comptroller’s office has requested to write-off uncollectible accounts receivable, returned checks and credit card transactions related to multiple BCC departments, and a General Fund bank reconciliation variance that has been identified largely by activities dating prior to FY 2015. Details regarding this request are included in the agenda back up information and net to $1,194.33.”

Details here: Consent Agenda item 19

Consent Agenda Item 20 – Schedule of County Fees

We often talk about Impact Fees and if builders and developers are being charged enough. This Agenda Item is the approval of County fees, everything from photocopying, library cards, beach access, rental of The Ampitheatre to Wastewater connection fees. And yes, in the middle of this schedule is the full table of Impact Fees (p. 25) charged for new construction.Details here: County Fee Schedules

Regular Agenda Items

Agenda Item 1 is in District 2, Elevation Pointe. The developer seeks to increase wetland impacts with a decrease in preserved wetlands, open space, and upland buffers. This was driven by the addition of a Publix supermarket as a tenant in the shopping center.

Presentation is here: Elevation Pointe

Location of Elevation Pointe

Agenda Item 2, also in District 2, is the Deer Run Road PUD. This is a request to rezone 25 acres of land from Open Rural to Planned Unit Development for 26 duplexes, total of 52 dwelling units. This was approved by the PZA with a vote of 3-2. There was much discussion about the added traffic on Holmes Blvd and Four Mile Road.

Presentation is here: Deer Run Road PUD

Agenda Item 3 is in District 5. A project called Whole 9 Yards is in the Airport District and seeks to rezone 1.37 acres of land from Open Rural to Industrial Warehousing. This was approved at the PZA with a vote of 3-2. Many residents spoke against this change because of the impact to their residential neighborhood.

Presentation: Whole 9 Yards

Agenda Item 6 is a combined public hearing item including the Approval of the 2023 Inventory List of Land available for Affordable Housing in St. Johns County and the available affordable housing strategies through the Live Local Act that passed in the 2023 Legislative session.

Presentation is here: 2023 Inventory of Land

“At the regular meeting on April 18, 2023 the Board requested information regarding SB102, aka Live Local Act (LLA). LLA is a statewide housing strategy designed to increase the availability of attainable housing options through multiple tools. Action is required on the affordable housing inventory list. Pursuant to section 125.379, F.S., the County shall prepare an inventory list of all real property within its jurisdiction to which the county or any dependent special district within its boundaries holds fee simple title which is appropriate for use as affordable housing. The Board of County Commissioners is required to review the inventory list at a public hearing and adopt a resolution approving the final list. The Board may consider making tax exemptions available through LLA for those new and existing affordable housing units meeting certain criteria. An ordinance would be required. LLA includes a preemption on development of affordable housing in commercial, industrial, and mixed-use zoning when 40% of rental units are developed according to density and height standards as specified in 125.01055(7) F.S. LLA also makes an discretionary option available to the Board allowing multi-family or mixed-use residential development consisting of a minimum 10% affordable units in commercial and industrial zoning (125.01055(6) F.S.). Staff seeks direction on further action on this option. LLA includes grant funding opportunities for affordable housing projects through the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund statute.”

A review of the inventory list shows almost 300 properties, many of them in West Augustine, Elkton, and the Armstrong area. The question to ask is, what can be done to make this properties available for residents?

Agenda Item 7 is an update on the Category B Emergency Beach Berm and Contract Award for Butler Beach. Butler Beach Contract

Agenda Item 8 – Public-Private Partnership with SJC Cultural Events, Inc for Operations and Management of St. Johns County Cultural Events Public Private Partnership – SJC Cultural Events

Agenda Item 9 is the Second Reading of Proposed Amendments to the St. Johns County prohibited Holiday Activity Ordinance for Sexual Offenders and Sexual Predators. This is followed by Agenda Item 10, the Second Reading of the Proposed Amendments to the Child Safety Zone Ordinance.

Holiday Ordinance

Child Safety Zone

Agenda Item 11 is a Proposed Settlement of Lupoli v. St. Johns County and Guilmar, LLC Litigation and Statutory Demand. This stems from a lawsuit filed by residents as a result of a decision made by the Board of County Commissioners in 2022. Settlement Proposal

Agenda Item 12 is to consider the proposed 2024 St. Johns County Legislative Action Plan. You can read the presentation here: SJC Legislative Agenda Proposal

Here are some highlights from the presentation:

Improve the Transportation Infrastructure

  • East-West Corridors Upgrade State Road 16, County Road 210, State Road 208, State Road 207, and State Road 206 to provide traffic relief, improve connectivity, fortify hurricane evacuation routes, and enhance safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.  
  • North-South Corridors Address overcapacity along US 1 and I-95 and strengthen connectivity between employment centers and residential communities by completing extensions of County Road 2209, State Road 312/313, and related connectors.
  • State Road 16 St. Johns County requests $20 million in state appropriations to design and construct a new 4-lane divided roadway with a multiuse path from International Golf Parkway to I-95

Strengthening Community Resilience

  • Fire safety improvements
  • Beach stabilization and renourishment
  • Youth Mental Health
  • Changes in state laws around distance of commercial sales of nicotine products to schools
  • Youth Sports

Sustaining Economic Prosperity

  • Vilano Beach Street Improvements
  • World Golf Village Hall of Fame site improvements
  • School Capacity – importantly “School Capacity St. Johns County requests the Legislature identify and modify provisions of law and/or administrative rules that may limit the construction of new school facilities, or tie the authorization of construction of new schools to existing school capacity. Additional flexibility will facilitate strategic planning for high-growth districts.”
  • Revisions to the Live Local Act. “Affordable Housing Compatibility Revise the Live Local Act to restore local government review of multifamily housing projects proposed for land zoned for commercial or industrial uses.”
  • Hastings Water infrastructure
  • Unfunded Mandates –  “Request the Legislature oppose legislation that requires utilities to expend funds providing information, reports, or other documents to the State without providing a funding source for development of those reports. Specifically, the Legislature should pay careful attention to unfunded reporting mandates related to SB 712 (2020), HB 53 (2021), SB 64 (2021), and HB 1379 (2023).”

Protecting Natural and Historic Resources

  • Historic Farming Communities
  • Consider the City of St. Augustine as a location for the State Museum of Black History

Last item for the day is at 5:01 Time Certain and that is the second Public Hearing of the millage rates and 2024 Fiscal Year Budget.

“In accordance with sections 129.03 and 200.065 of the Florida Statutes, the Board of
County Commissioners (BCC) is required to hold public hearings to adopt its millage rates and budget for the next Fiscal Year (FY). Such hearings must be held after 5:00 PM if scheduled on a day other than Saturday. The September 19, 2023, 5:01 PM hearing date has been advertised in the St. Augustine Record. The Florida Statutes further prescribe the specific order for consideration of substantive issues to be discussed during the required public hearings. The first substantive issue of discussion must be the percentage increase in the County’s aggregate
millage rate over the rolled-back rate necessary to fund the budget. The rolled-back rate is defined as the aggregate millage rate that would generate the same level of prior year tax revenues less certain defined allowances (such as new construction). During such discussion, the general public shall be allowed to speak and ask questions prior to the adoption of any measures by the BCC. The BCC shall adopt by resolution its final millage rates prior to adopting itsfinal budget for FY 2024.”

Presentation can be found here: TRIM and 2024 Budget Presentation

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Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Summary of the September 5 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting (Part 2)

Posted on by Beth Tate

Board of County Commissioner Meetings are the first and third Tuesdays of the Month, 9:00 AM, at the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View.

Image from St. Johns County Facebook Page

Link to the full agenda is here: BOCC Agenda 9-5-23

Picking up after the lunch recess, there was a long afternoon ahead conlucing with the special meeting to cover the 2024 Millage rates and budget.

Agenda Items 5 and 6 also impacts the Longleaf Pine Parkway/County Road 210 area. The Comprehensive Plan Amendment and PUD for the Mensforth Family Community Commercial are to change the zoning for approximately 4.25 acres of land from Rural/Silviculture to Community Commercial. The PUD will include about 25,000 sq. ft. of commercial activities. This was approved.

Agenda Item 9 is of interest to those who follow our Bald Eagle population.

Special Magistrate Recommendation in Day Late Enterprises, Inc. v. St. Johns County

“On June 9, 2022, the Board of County Commissioners (“Board”) rendered an order denying a nonzoning variance application by Day Late Enterprises, Inc. (“Day Late”) for a proposed alternative bald eagle management plan for certain property along State Road 16, the majority of which is undeveloped, but a portion of which is within the Grand Oaks PUD. Day Late filed a request for relief from the denial under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act, section 70.51, Florida Statutes (“FLUEDRA”), which provides means to potentially resolve disputes pre-suit through a special magistrate mediation and hearing process. After the conclusion of the hearing, the special magistrate is required to issue a written recommendation, which the governmental entity must accept, modify, or reject within 45 days after receipt. Failure to act within 45 days is deemed a rejection. Thirty days after any rejection, the government entity must issue a written decision of the uses available to the subject property. The special magistrate in this matter issued a written recommendation on August 8, 2023, which is attached here for the Board’s review and consideration for possible action.”

Details here: Agenda Item 9

The recommendation to the Commissioners was that they take no action. The county code is stricter than the Federal guidelines and that is allowed. by taking no action, the Commissioners are standing by their previous denial.

Agenda Item 10 – Discussion and request for direction regarding funding options in connection with the Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration project

This project covers from the St. Johns County/Duval County Line down to Vilano Beach.

This was a lengthy discussion – you can watch the full discussion at this link: Ponte Vedra Beach Restoration Project

Project Location Slide
Preliminary schedule
Project funding sources
Millage proposal in the event of a shortfall
Rational for millage distribution

Commissioner Joseph raised concerns about the divisive nature of the separate MSTUs pitting neighbor against neighbor. She had a counter proposal with creating 1 taxing district and for the county to carry the cost of the construction.

Proposal from Commissioner Joseph

Commissioner Dean spoke about his 5 years of working on this project and disagreed with Commissioner Joseph on how to cover the costs. He indicated that 80% of the cost is related to 6 miles of beach and he supports the staff analysis and breakdown of the millage between the 2 MSTUs.

There was further discussion between Commissioners Dean and Joseph about the discussions each have had with residents in the beaches area.

Public Comment included support for creating 1 MSTU with emphasis that this is for one Ponte Vedra Beach and one community.

Resident’s comments

During Commissioner discussion, there was clarification that the millage could be assessed only if there is a shortfall in funding. They do not yet have the final budget for the project.

Commissioner Dean proposed a motion on the 2 MSTUs. Commissioner Joseph raised a “point of order” that Commissioner Dean made the motion and this is in her District. Attorney Migut explained that it is the custom of the Board to defer to the Commissioner of the District but not a point of order.

Commissioner Joseph countered that this should be a single MSTU.

Commissioner Dean’s 3 part motion passed 4:1 with Commissioner Joseph being the no vote.

Interim County Administrator Joy Andrews clarified for the Board that there is no vote here on millage to be assessed, only on the split between the two MSTUs and that any proposed millage would be part of the budget discussions in 2024, for the 2024 assessments.

Commissioner Joseph made a motion to levy the MSTUs at one rate rather than two. The motion died for lack of a second

Regular Agenda Item 10 – Discussion on Local Preference in SJC Purchasing Policy

This item was a discussion to determine whether or not to remove the application of Local Preference as included in the SJC Purchasing Policy.

Presentation materials can be found here: Local Preference in Purchasing

Challenges of the Local Preference Policy
Staff Recommendations for Local Preference Policy

There was no motion made regarding this item. Commissioner Dean stated he is in favor of eliminating the local preference policy. Others mentioned the favorability of keeping purchasing dollars local and agreed there was further discussion needed. There was an ask for the Purchasing department to discuss this with the Chamber of Commerce and come back with recommendations at a future meeting.

Regular Agenda Item 11 – Project Krew Updated Economic Incentive Request

This is an updated request from a confidential business for economic incentives related to locating a new business in St. Johns County.

Residents spoke out against the incentives because the business is unknown to the public. It became clear in the Commissioner’s comments that they do know the project but are keeping it confidential and they are in favor of the project because of the jobs and revenue it will bring to the county.

At 5:01 was the Public Hearing on the Adoption of Tentative Millage Rates & Budget for FY 2024.

Certainly this has been a hot topic of discussion across the county with the mailing of the TRIM notices in August!

This is the first public hearing with the final public hearing recommendation date being September 19. This was the first opportunity for the public to comment and ask questions prior to the adoption of the final budget for FY 2024.

Presentation and millage rates are at this link: Trim Notice Presentation

You can watch the full presentation at this link: Budget Presentation

“In accordance with sections 129.03 and 200.065 of the Florida Statutes, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) is required to hold public hearings to adopt its millage rates and budget for the next Fiscal Year (FY). Such hearings must be held after 5:00 PM if scheduled on a day other than Saturday. In the recently mailed Notices of Proposed Property Taxes (TRIM) by the County’s Property Appraiser, the date and time noticed for the required hearings is September 5, 2023, at 5:01 P.M. The Florida Statutes further prescribe the specific order for consideration of substantive issues to be discussed during the required public hearings. The first substantive issue of discussion must be the percentage increase in the County’s aggregate millage rate over the rolled-back rate necessary to fund the budget. The rolled-back rate is defined as the aggregate millage rate that would generate the same level of prior year tax revenues less certain defined allowances (such as new construction). During such discussion, the general public shall be allowed to speak and ask questions prior to the adoption of any measures by the BCC. The BCC shall adopt by resolution its tentative millage rates prior to adopting its tentative budget for FY 2024. Additionally, the BCC is required to establish a date, time, and place to conduct public hearings on the final millage and budget adoption for FY 2024. It is recommended that the BCC establish September 19, 2023, at 5:01 PM, in the County Auditorium to conduct such hearings. A copy of the FY 2024 Tentative Budget Workbook, including detail per line item, may be found on the County’s webpage at http://www.sjcfl.us/OMB/”

Public Comment

During Public Comment there were a couple of trends, one was concerns from people who’s home value has increased but their income has not. Taxes on the increased value of their home is not something their budgets can easily handle. There are people who own rental properties and try to maintain a lower rent for the people that live and work in this county but with the increase in property taxes AND insurance rates, it is difficult for them to continue to keep their rents low.

There was also comment that there are areas in the budget that could be reduced.

The Commissioners voted 5:0 to adopt the millage rates and budget for 2024.

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Posted in BOCC, St. Johns County

Summary of the September 5 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting (Part 1)

Posted on by Beth Tate

Board of County Commissioner Meetings are the first and third Tuesdays of the Month, 9:00 AM, at the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View.

Image from St. Johns County Facebook Page

My update on last week’s meetings has been delayed as I have been traveling. Thanks for your patience!

Beause of the length of the meeting and importance of some of the topics, I will be posting the September 5 summary in two parts.

Link to the full agenda is here: BOCC Agenda 9-5-23

Commissioner Arnold participated in the meeting remotely.

There were 3 Proclamations presented at the September 5 BOCC meeting.

  • Hispanic Heritage Month
  • Constitution Week
  • Library Card Sign-up Month

During the Constitution Week Presentation it was noted there will be a special presentation for Constitution Week on September 17 at the Plaza in downtown St. Augustine. Commissioner Whitehurst will be one of the speakers and they will have all the bells in the downtown churches ringing for 2 minutes in recognition of the signing of the Constitution. All are invited to attend.

At the conclusion of the Library Card Sign-Up Month presentation, Commissioners who did not already have a card were presented with their own Library Card and challenged to use them!

Public Safety Update

Two SJSO Dispatchers were sent to Taylor County to help with hurricane recovery and have returned.

The Fire Chief reported that while Hurricane Idalia was minimal impact for the county, it did provide an opportunity for the teams to go through the exercise with a lot of new faes in the team. That was a success. Two fire personnel were sent to Citrus County to assist with hurricane recovery. 

Clerk of the Court’s Report

Brandon Patty shared that one of the responsibilities under the Clerk fo the Court is the Value Adjustment Board. If a property owner objects to the Property Appraiser’s valuation of their property, they can file a petition that will be managed by the Value Adjustment Board. Here is a link to the Petition filing Process: Value Adjustment Board Petition

To honor Consitution Day, residents can pick up a free copy of the Constitution at the County Court House anytime during the month of September.

County Infrastructure Report

A new item on the Commissioner’s Agenda is the County Infrastructure Report. The Infrastructure team will provide updates on on-going capital projects

Graphic provided by the Infrastructure Team

Consent Agenda Items of interest

I requested that the 2 items on the Consent Agenda related to The Landings development in Greenbriar be moved to the Regular Agenda. Commissioner Joseph concurred with that request and the Commissioners agreed to move them to be voted on with the Regular Agenda items 1 – 4.

Here are the 2 Agenda items.

Consent Agenda Item 3 is the School Concurrency Proportionate Share Mitigation Agreement and Consent Agenda Item 4 is the Proportionate Fair Share Agreement. What is most interesting is that the Comprehensive Plan Amendments (CPA) and the Planned Unit Development (PUD) agreement for both The Landings at Greenbriar and The Landings at St. Johns are on the Regular Agenda for Sept. 5. This means that the Consent Agenda items could technically be approved before the CPA and PUD are even heard by the Commissioners at the September 5 meeting.

Consent Agenda Item 3 is the School Concurrency Proportionate Share Mitigation Agreement is an agreement that to mitigate for the lack of school capacity today, the proportionate share is $9,563,320 or $16,264 per dwelling unit. This will be satisfied by dedication of an off-site drainage easement to serve the existing elementary school site adjacent the proposed PUD. This is valued at $321,481. The balance of $9,241,845 will be a payment made prior to Construction Plan approval. The School Impact fee credits will be for the full amount of the $9,563,320. This was approved by the School Board on July 11, 2023.

Importantly, the School Distrct will apply this Proportionate Share Mitigation towards school capacity improvements to be added to the planned capital improvements in the next update of the Five Year District Facilities Work Plan.

Read the details here: Consent Agenda Item 3

Consent Agenda Item 4 is the Proportionate Fair Share Agreement to mitigate the transportation impacts to CR 210, Greenbriar Road, SR 13 and Longleaf Pine Parkway. The  proportionate fair share (PFS) for this project (The Landings at Greenbriar and St. Johns) is calculated to be $8,148,710.00. This would fund widening a portion of Greenbriar Road from a point just east of the Greenbriar Rd/Longleaf Pine Pkwy intersection to approximately nine-tenths (0.9) of a mile west of the intersection from 2 to 4 lanes, including improvements to the Greenbriar Rd/Longleaf Pine Pkwy intersection (Greenbriar Road Improvements), at an estimated cost of $8,162,869.

Read the details here: Consent Agenda Item 4

Regular Agenda Items

Regular Agenda items 1 – 4 and Consent Agenda Items 3 – 4 were heard as one item. This was the Adoption Hearing for the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and PUD for The Landings at Greenbriar and The Landings at St. Johns (Active Adult.)

Because of the great interest in this development and subsequent news coverage, I’m providing a few more pictures from the presentation here. You can watch the full presentation at this link: BOCC Presentation – The Landings

The Landings south of Greenbriar Road
Switzerland Point & Hickory Creek access improvements
Bartram Trail Access Improvements
Slide highlighting future schools
Timeline of construction and improvements
Roadway projects
Additional Roadway Improvements
Student Generation as presented by the developer
Letter from the School Board thanking the developer for improvements
Benefits as described by the developer

Details can be found at the links below.

CPA (SS) 2022-01 The Landings at Greenbriar Comprehensive Plan – The Landings at Greenbriar

“Request for a Small-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use designation of approximately 31.8 acres of land, located south of Greenbriar Road, approximately one (1) mile west of Longleaf Pine Parkway, from Rural/Silviculture (R/S) to Residential-B (Res-B) with site specific text amendment stating that in locations where the subject property is contiguous to The Landings at St. Johns site, no Development Edges will be required. This request was heard by the Planning and Zoning Agency at their regularly scheduled public hearing on Thursday, August 3, 2023, and was recommended for approval, 5-1.”

PUD 2022-03 The Landings at Greenbriar PUD – The Landings at Greenbriar

“Request to rezone approximately 382 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for a maximum 588 single family residential dwelling units. This request was heard by the Planning and Zoning Agency at their regularly scheduled public hearing on Thursday, August 3, 2023, and was recommended for approval, 5-1.”

COMPAMD 2022-06 The Landings at St. Johns (Active Adult) Comprehensive Plan – The Landings at St. Johns

“Adoption hearing for a Large-Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the Future Land Use Map designation of approximately 581 acres of land, located south of Greenbriar Road and west of Longleaf Pine Parkway, from Rural/Silviculture (R/S) to Residential-B (Res-B) with a site specific text amendment stating that in locations where the subject property is contiguous to The Landings at Greenbriar site, no Development Edges will be required. This request was heard by the Planning and Zoning Agency at their regularly scheduled public hearing on Thursday, August 3, 2023, and was recommended for approval, 5-1.”

PUD 2022-20 The Landings at St. Johns (Active Adult) PUD – The Landings at St. Johns

“Request to rezone approximately 581 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) and Residential, Single Family (RS-2) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for a maximum 761 age-restricted single family homes. This request is a companion application to COMPAMD 2022-06 The Landings at St. Johns. This request was heard by the Planning and Zoning Agency at their regularly scheduled public hearing on Thursday, August 3, 2023, and was recommended for approval, 5 – 1.”

Public Comment on The Landings

Public Comment began with a presentation by Christine Mullis, representing residents of the 8 existing Greenbriar communities. Ms. Mullis stressed that their largest concern is the small size of. the lots in The Landings and that they are not compatible with the surrounding communities. Additional concerns are that the high density impacts the schools and roadways. She highlighted the overcrowding in the schools today and emphasized that this development will just add to the existing overcrowding.

Communities represented by Ms. Mullis and the lot sizes in each

Additionally, Ms. Mullis raised concerns about the character of the developer, pointing out that the developer asked people to write letters of support and show up at meetings to share their support. She stated that these psople are employers of Pulte or EMT.

Several residents spoke both in favor of and against the development. Those speaking against the development were largely concerned about the impact on schools. Commissioner Joseph had a list of people who had spoken in favor previously who may work for the developer. When these people spoke in favor of the development, she asked them if they worked for the developer. At one point there was a sharp exchange between Commissioner Joseph and Commissioner Whitehurst about the questioning. Commissioner Whitehurst offered that they could stipulate that Commissioner Joseph suspected anyone speaking in favor of the project works for the developer. Commissioner Joseph stated that she only asked if they were on the list of names that had been provided to her.

Commissioner’s Comments

Commissioner Dean stated that he had two elements he considered for developments, compatibility and infrastructure. He liked that the developer has set aside almost 50% of the land for open space and indicated that is why the lot sizes are smaller. For Infrastructure concerns, he felt that the proportionate share was appropriate. He went on to say that one developer should not be held accountable to make up for all the past deficiencies and they were paying their fair share. As for schools, he took the opportunity to explain the limitations created by PECO, Public Education Capital Outlay. PECO is what the legislature appropriates every year for public school construction. This was passed 50 years ago and will only allow for new school construction funds to be released if the new school will be at or above 50% capacity when it opens. He stated that if we think we can deny a project and solve the overcrowding in schools, it is a “fool’s errand.” His comments concluded with the data that we have a 10 year inventory of homes that have been entitled and could be built. With the PECO limitations, we will continue to have portables added because new schools will not be built until the zone is 50% over capacity.

After the long presentations and comments, The Landings at Greenbriar and The Landings at St. Johns were approved 4:1, with Commissioner Joseph the No vote.

The afternoon topics will be shared in a separate post.

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Posted in PZA, St. Johns County

September 7 St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency Agenda Items

Posted on by Beth Tate

St. Johns Count Planning and Zoning Agency (PZA) Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month in the County Auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View.

The September 7 meeting has 5 items for review. The full agenda can be found here: PZA Agenda

Agenda Item 1 is a minor modification request in District 1, Bartram Park, to accommodate placement of a backyard pool.

Agenda Item 2 is another minor modification request in District 2, to allow an A/C unit to encroach into the required 5 ft. setback.

Agenda Item 3 is of interest to residents who live in Race Track Road area in District 1. This is a request to modify the Race Track Road PUD to accommodate construction of a Personal Property Mini-Warehouse Facility (Self Storage.) A Self Storage warehouse is already an allowable usage in this PUD however they are requesting modifications to the currently allowed commercial and office square footage.

Check out the full application here: Race Track Road PUD

Aerial Map of location for the Self Storage FAcility

The waiver being requested is for the proximity of personal property mini warehouse being located within five hundred (500) feet of a residentially zoned property or residential portions of Planned Developments. The proposed project currently measures approximately 420 feet away from residential properties to the west and approximately 390 feet from the single-family residence located to the east.

The application also seeks to to reallocate square footage requirements. This table demonstrates the changes in square footage being requested.

Screen shot from MAJMOD Race Track Road Application

Item 4 is of interest to residents of Flagler Estates. This is a request for a Special Use Permit for the construction of a 250 ft. cell phone tower on Helena Street.

Link to the application here: Flagler Estates Cell Tower

Item 5 is another request for a modification to allow a self storage facility on US1, just north of County Road 210. This is in District 4. Self Storage Facility

“This is a request to amend Comprehensive Plan Policy A.1.11.3 to allow for a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 110% in lieu of the required maximum of 50% within the Intensive Commercial FLUM designation, specifically located at 11280 US 1 North. According to the provided conceptual site plan, the proposed footprint of the building is approximately 32,750 square feet with a total of 3-stories for an overall square footage of 98,250 square feet. The applicant attest that the amendment is needed since the Comprehensive Plan requires a cumulative calculation for FAR to be based on total floor area of all floors within a building, and does not adequately account for Self-Storage uses in all locations and situations.”

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