Latest news on the Guana Land Swap – the applicant has withdrawn their request!
Maybe one day we will learn the true identify of the applicant and understand their true intentions.
The ARC Meeting Agenda has been update to show Agenda Item 4 is Withdrawn. Link here: Updated ARC Agenda
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If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all, you’ve seen that the Guana Preserve is once again at risk. I’ve been gathering the data around what’s been happening and what you can do about it. Let’s dive in!
On Wednesday evening, May 14, Audubon Florida broke the news that the Guana Preserve in St. Johns County was under attack. There is a proposed land swap of about 600 acres of the state owned Guana preserve for about 3000 acres of land across other areas in Florida.
On their website and FB page, they shared about a meeting scheduled by little known State organization
See their announcement on FB here: Audubon Florida FB Page
And their Call to Action on their website here: Audubon Society CTA
Details of the meeting where this Land Swap will occur can be found here: May21 ARC Meeting Agenda. The Land Swap is Agenda Item 4, linked here: Guana Land Swap
Surprisingly, the Save Guana Now organization that fought successfully to save Guana in the past was caught off guard by this announcement. It appears they found out about this only from the Audubon Society alerts.
We quickly began seeing speculation spreading across social media about who was behind the Land Swap. Within hours of the announcement of this news by the Audubon Society there was public speculation from Save Guana Now that the person behind the proposed swap was Bob Blandford of United Land Services.
I received an email Call to Action on Friday, May 16 declaring that there was a plan to develop 600 homes in the Guana Preserve.
Some said it was Gate and the Peyton Family behind the Land Swap.
There was speculation that the developer behind the land swap was the owner of Dream Finder Homes.
Looking at the property appraiser’s map, this 104 acre parcel is already zoned for a lodge or club. (that means the owner could be a club or lodge there today with no rezoning.) That may be leading to the speculation that a Golf Club will be built on the land.
A large protest occurred on Saturday to bring more attention to the proposal. See coverage here: First Coast News coverage of the protest and here: News4Jax
The Peytons have shared they are “absolutely not involved” in the Land Swap. In this Jax Today article, JAX Today May 15 Herb Peyton goes so far as to say ““Guana State Park is the finest land in Northeast Florida and no portion should be sold, swapped or developed,” he said. “This land belongs to the people of Florida and should be preserved forever.”
Dream Finder Homes has also sent a statement that they are not behind the land swap. In a Tampa Bay Times article, we find this statement, “Rob Riva, a general counsel for Dream Finders Homes, sent the Times an emailed statement Saturday denying the connection. ‘Dream Finders has no involvement in this swap,’ he said.”
The Tampa Bay Times shared this info that would explain how Internet sleuths cam to the wrong conclusion, “Dream Finders Homes previously built a community in Colorado called Uplands, and so Zalupski’s name is listed on multiple Florida companies with names that include that word, though none exactly match the LLC listed on this proposal.”
Local State Representative Kim Kendall has jumped into the fray rallying other State Representatives and demanding to know who is behind the Upland LLC that owns the property adjacent to the Guana Land that is being sought in this land swap. She has sent out 2 emails providing details about how to take action.
As she points out, there are 4 decision makers involved with this decision. It’s not the County Commission and it’s not our state legislators. It comes down to the Department of Environmental Protection Board and ultimately to the Governor and his cabinet.
From Representative Kendall’s newsletter:
**Email the 4 most important decision makers: the DEP Chair Bryan Bradner, who oversees the DEP ARC meeting on Wednesday (that board makes a recommendation) – from there it passes through another state division – and final stop (like the June 10 meeting) is the Governor and Chamber (which currently only includes Attorney General James Uthmeier and Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson):
Copy paste these four emails:
Bryan.Bradner@FloridaDEP.gov
GovernorRon.DeSantis@eog.myflorida.com
james.uthmeier@myfloridalegal.com
Wilton.Simpson@FDACS.gov
St. Johns County Commissioner Sarah Arnold has also been speaking out against the land swap, telling journalists at Saturday’s protest, “I’m getting whiplash out here. Once again, our land is under attack, I’m disgusted, angry and frustrated that we’re out here doing this again.”
Both Representative Kendall and Commissioner Arnold’s responses are covered in this Tampa Bay Times article: Tampa Bay Times coverage
You can see more of Commissioner Sarah Arnold’s opposition comments on her FB page here: Commissioner Sarah Arnold FB
The most recent high profile opposition comes from President Trump’s Chief of Staff, Northeast Florida’s own Susie Wiles. In a statement to The Tributary, Ms. Wiles said, ““Guana Preserve and its beauty, familiarity and serenity is woven into the fabric of our communities and is, indeed, a treasure in northeast Florida. To allow — even enable — this land grab to occur is outrageous and completely contrary to what our community desires. Elected and appointed leaders should vote against this development wolf in sheep’s clothing and preserve this extraordinary natural bounty.” Read the article here: JAX Trib article
Why is it important who owns this land adjacent to Guana? As Commissioner Clay Murphy explained in a Friday, May 16 interview, there is an obscure statute that allows someone with land ADJACENT to preserved land to request this type of land swap. Check out his interview and explanation here: Clay Murphy Interview The full interview starts about the 4 minute mark where Commissioner Murphy covers a number of important topics, the land swap included.
As Mark Woods reported in his Times-Union column on Sunday, “Upland LLC, which already owns 104 acres next to Guana, proposed a land swap to acquire 600 more acres currently owned by the state and open to the public with — as the proposal noted — a pedestrian trail, a dirt road, and access for waterfowl hunting, fishing, paddling and wildlife viewing.” Check out Mark’s column here: Mark Woods – Stop Guana Swap
What to do this week?
What can you do?
Sign the petition at the Audubon website: Audubon petition
Attend the ARC meeting on Wednesday – in person or virtually
Email the decision makers (email addresses above)
Attend or watch the Press Conference scheduled by Representative Kendall. She will be accompanied by St. Johns County Commissioners
Tuesday: Press Conference tentatively set for 10:30 a.m.
North Guana Outpost
4415 Mickler Road
Ponte Vedra Beach
Watch the Wednesday Press Conference Representative Kendall has scheduled prior to the ARC meeting:
Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. Press Conference
The Rotunda, 4th floor of the Capitol
Wednesday: 9 a.m.
DEP’s Acquisition and Restoration Council meeting
(that will make the recommendation on this issue)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building
Conference Room 137
3900 Commonwealth Blvd.
Tallahassee, FL 32399
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Since the 2024 election we’ve heard about the desire to try an evening Board of County Commissioner’s meeting to give more people the opportunity to attend.
Well – that time is here! The May 20 BOCC meeting will begin at 5:00 PM in the Auditorium or you can watch on GTV, here: Link to GTV
Be prepared for a late evening. It usually takes an hour or more to get to the Regular Agenda, depending on how many people participate in Public Comment at the beginning of the meeting.
There are only 3 items on the Regular Agenda, a Non-Zoning Variance, review of the Comprehensive Plan, and review of a Reclaimed Water Meter Fee in Beacon Lakes.
The full agenda can be found here: May 20 Agenda
Interesting to see that one of the most impactful conversations of the year for the Commissioner’s will be on the agenda, Item 2, the review of the Comprehensive Plan update. This is a discussion only item with no vote scheduled on Tuesday evening.
We’ve already seen 2 Commissioners voicing their opposition to the plan on social media and asking people to show up at the meeting to express their opposition. You may want to read the proposed changes yourself before deciding if you agree or disagree.
You can read the full red-lined version at this link: 2025 Comprehensive Plan Update
For those not familiar with a red-line – you can see in red the proposed changes, omissions, modifications, deletions. It is a lengthy document, 289 pages, so be prepared to take some time to read it!
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There is no shortage of public meetings of importance to the county next week. Let’s take a look at the most critical.
Budget Meetings
Budget season for St. Johns County begins in earnest next week with scheduled presentations of departmental budgets.
County Administrator Joy Andrews released a newsletter last week sharing how to listen in to the Budget process. The Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Disclosure Series begins next week and everyone can watch and ask questions!
These meetings are meetings between the Operational Department leaders and the County Administrator, reviewing their “proposed levels of service and requested funding need to accomplish those service goals and operations.”
Between May 8 and May 13, 2025, each County department will be presenting their operational needs and priorities. If you’ve ever wondered how they come up with these numbers or where the money goes, this is great opportunity to watch the process!
Each session will be broadcast live and recorded so you can watch in real-time or later. They will also have available public viewing areas if you want to be “in the room”.
The meetings will be held at the St. Johns County Administration Building, 500 San Sebastian View in St. Augustine. There will be limited seating in the conference room for in-person attendance and additional space in the auditorium where they will broadcast the meetings live. Or you can watch from the comfort of home on GTV. Link here: St. Johns County GTV
If you have feedback or questions, you can email the team at budget2026@sjcfl.us
If you are interested in specific topics, here is the line-up:
May 8 – 1:00 – 5:00 PM
May 9 – 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
May 9 – 2 – 4:30 PM
May 12 – 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
May 12 – 2 – 4:00 PM
May 13 – 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
May 13 – 2 – 5:00 PM
Learn more about the process here: 2026 Budget
Besides the Budget series beginning next week, there is the regularly scheduled BOCC meeting. There are some interesting topics on the agenda and I’ve already seen some mis-representation on social media. Before you plan to show up about a specific topic, learn more about what will be presented.
Let’s walk through the Agenda.
Regular Agenda Items
Agenda Item 1 – Tidal 210 – Request to rezone approximately 65 acres of land from Commercial Highway and Tourist to Planned Unit Development for the development of a maximum of 297 townhome units. This was heard by the PZA and failed with a 3:3 vote (Labanowski, Hilsenbeck, Speigel voting no.
Background materials can be found here: Tidal 210 PUD
Agenda Item 2 – Comprehensive Plan Update: Population Projections – the vendor supporting the process for the Comprehensive Plan was instructed to use Medium Population projections for the County as they prepare the Comprehensive Plan. This is their assessment.
Materials are here: Comp Plan Update
Agenda Item 3 – Amendment to the Irrigation Ordinance regulating the consumptive use of water for landscape irrigation. Proposed change will bring St. Johns County Utilities in conformity with best practices suggested by the St. Johns River Water Management District’s goals for water conservation.
The amended section is here (change in red):
Section 5. Exceptions to Landscape Irrigation Schedule. Landscape irrigation shall be subject to the following irrigation schedule exceptions:
A. Irrigation using a micro-spray, micro-jet, drip or bubbler irrigation system is allowed anytime.
B. Irrigation of new landscape is allowed at any time of day on any day for 30 days immediately following planting/installation and every other day for the next 30 days for a total of one 60- day period, provided that the irrigation is limited to the minimum amount necessary for such landscape establishment.
C. Watering in of chemicals, including insecticides, pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides, and herbicides, when required by law, the manufacturer, or best management practices, is allowed at any time of day on any day within 24 hours of application. Watering in of chemicals shall not exceed ¼ inch of water per application except as otherwise required by law, the manufacturer, or best management practices.
D. Irrigation systems may be operated at any time of day on any day for necessary maintenance and repair purposes not to exceed 20 minutes per hour per zone.
E. Irrigation using a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle is allowed at any time of day on any day.
F. Discharge of water from a water-to-air air-conditioning unit or other water-dependent cooling system is not limited by this Ordinance.
G. The use of water from a reclaimed water system is allowed anytime unless restricted by a utility provider for operational needs as permitted by law. For the purpose of this paragraph, a reclaimed water system includes systems in which the primary source is reclaimed water, which may or may not be supplemented from another source during peak demand periods.
Agenda Item 4 – Amending the SJC Utilities Ordinance – Second Reading
“During a recent Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) inspection of the Utilities Pretreatment Program, it was discovered that the current Utility Ordinance did not give delegation authorization from the Utility Director to the Pretreatment Coordinator. It was also noted that the Ordinance did not define a timeline for reviewing data and issuing or denying Pretreatment permits. These minor amendments (pages 42 and 52) to the Utility Ordinance will address the changes FDEP requested during the Pretreatment inspection. First Reading was held April 1, 2025.”
Agenda Item 5 – Rezoning SR 207/Helen Road Commercial – Request to rezone approximately .97 acres of land at 180 State Road 207 from Residential, Manufactured/Mobile Home to Commercial Intensive. The applicant intends to develop the overall site to include office, self-storage and flex warehousing.
Materials are here: Agenda Item 5
Agenda Item 6 – 1235 S. Winterhawk Drive – Request for a Non-Zoning variance to allow for an access easement within a platted subdivision
Agenda Item 7 – FLUEDRA Mediation update: Robinson Improvement Company – This is an item that needs to be understood in it’s entirety. I’ve seen encouragement to show up on Tuesday to tell the BOCC to deny this request. That is not one of the options for Tuesday. Read on.
“On November 5, 2024, the Board denied Robinson Improvement Company’s request to rezone 2,763 acres to PUD (PUD2024-09). The property is located north of County Road 214, south of County Road 208, and between I-95 and County Road 13A. Robinson Improvement filed a request for relief from the denial under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act (“FLUEDRA”). FLUEDRA provides a means to potentially resolve disputes pre-suit through a special magistrate mediation and hearing process. The special magistrate mediation occurred on March 28, 2025. During the mediation, Robinson Improvement presented a revised plan providing more site detail, including a neighborhood commercial component. The parties agreed that, contingent on Board approval, Robinson Improvement could proceed to a public rezoning hearing on the revised plan. If the Board does not approve scheduling the new rezoning hearing, the parties will proceed to a public hearing before the special magistrate regarding the FLUEDRA request.”
Relief is being sought by the developer under FLUEDRA, aimed at resolving the dispute between the developer and the county without litigation.
You can read the FLUEDRA statute here: FLUEDRA Statute
There are two options for the Commission on Tuesday:
OPTION 1: Motion to rehear PUD2024-09 and authorize the scheduling of a public rezoning hearing complying with public notice and advertising requirements.
OPTION 2: Take no action and allow the matter to proceed to a public hearing before the special magistrate.
Note that there is no option to deny the development at this meeting. Either it gets scheduled for another rezoning hearing or no action is taken, allowing this challenge to go before the special magistrate.
This article in the Jacksonville Daily Record lays out some of the details: Agrihood – Second Chance
The full agenda for Tuesday can be found here: May 6 BOCC Agenda
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The meeting began and ended with important discussions that highlight the on-going discord with the current Board of County Commissioners. Residents have expressed their desire to see some of these disagreements put aside so the Commissioners can get on with the business of the County. Read on for more information.
Mental Health Awareness Month
Commissioner Sarah Arnold presented the Proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month. Accepting the proclamation were representatives from families and organizations working with Mental Health issues in the community.
Watch the Proclamation presentation here: Mental Health Awareness Month
Learn more about two of the organizations at these links: Patients not Prisoners and SMA Healthcare
As someone who has seen first hand what mental health struggles can do to a family, I’m grateful for organizations like these and the Proclamation for Mental Health Awareness.
Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
The second proclamation of the day was for National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Appropriately presented by Commissioner Murphy, who began his law enforcement career in this field, this proclamation recognizes the work done by the dedicated folks who answer the call to 911, handling over 414,000 incoming and outgoing calls in St. Johns County last year.
You can watch the presentation here: Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
There were no additions or deletions to the Consent Agenda and it was approved.
Regular Agenda
Regular Agenda Item 1 – Request for Reimbursement of Attorney’s Fees.
Commissioner Joseph is requesting reimbursement of her attorney fees incurred when she filed suit against the Florida State’s Attorney and the County Commissioners. See the slides for more details on the events.
Following her attorney’s presentation, Commissioner Joseph asked if she was ever going to be put in jail. The attorney responded that at one point there were law enforcement vehicles outside her home in early morning hours and that caused her to worry that there would be a predawn raid. The attorney contacted the State’s Attorney’s office to discuss arranging a surrender for her arrest so that her husband would not be left without care. The State’s Attorney would not have the discussion.
Commissioner Taylor made a motion to move funds from the General Reserve fund and approve the amount of $139,005 in attorney’s fees for Commissioner Joseph. Commissioner Joseph seconded the motion.
After public comment, there were questions from the other Commissioners. Some of the questions and answers are paraphrased here:
Q – Has Commissioner Joseph paid this bill?
Answer – No, she still owes the attorney so the request is for the county taxpayers to pay the attorney’s fees for Commissioner Joseph
Q – What gave Commissioner Joseph the impression that there was going to be a pre-dawn raid?
Answer – There were law enforcement cards idling outside her house in the pre-dawn hours an that gave her concern. There was never any verification about why the law enforcement cars were outside of her home and never an arrest. She did believe they were there at the direction of the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Q – Why is Commissioner Joseph pursuing the County to reimburse her rather than the State’s Attorney’s Office which was pursuing the prosecution after the County Commissioners were dismissed from the lawsuit.
Answer – She is seeking reimbursement because these were fees incurred as part of her public duty.
Commissioner Murphy noted during discussions that the taxpayer is getting the bill both ways – to defend the Commissioners and to reimburse Commissioner Joseph for her fees.
Commissioner Murphy questioned the amount being requested and referred to an amount of $110,242 that had been deemed to be a “reasonable fee” and said he would support an amended motion for that amount. He would not support the total requested without an itemized bill for that amount.
Commissioner Arnold also asked about itemized bills and questioned the request being a reimbursement when the bill has not yet been paid. She would like for the topic to come back with more information in the request.
Commisioner Taylor amended her motion to $110,000, it was seconded by Commissioner Murphy and passed 3-2 with Arnold and Whitehurst being the No votes.
You can watch the presentation here: Agenda Item 1 – Reimbursement of Legal Fees
Agenda item 2 – The Shell at St. Augustine -a project to benefit local arts, culture and heritage organizations, provide a pathway to sustainability for the participating non-profits, increase tourism dollars for St. Johns County and enrich quality of life for local residents.
The organization has funding to build the building and are looking for a location to build. Consensus from the Board was for staff to work with the organization to help finding a location for this facility.
Watch the presentation here: The Shell
Agenda item 3 – Dog and Bog withdrawal of request. The applicants have determined they cannot develop the project and have located a local partner, Habitat for Humanity of St. Johns County, who are in discussions to purchase the project. Habitat for Humanity CEO Malinda Everson confirmed that Habitat is in the due diligence phase of moving forward with the purchase.
(Disclosure: I currently serve as the Treasurer on the Habitat for Humanity Board and did vote affirmatively to move forward with this purchase, dependent upon the outcome of the due diligence.)
Agenda Item 5 – change order to Phase 1 Design-Build Agreement for Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Design-Build services for Silverleaf Fire Station #22 and Sheriff’s Operations Center. This was an item to process a change order to include Early Works in the project at a cost of $2,288,800. Approved unanimously
Agenda Item 6 – Amendment for Early Works packages for Central Community and Community Sportsplex Parks. Approved unanimously
Agenda Items 7– Appointment to the Housing Finance Authority. Robin Pfalzgraf was appointed unanimously.
Agenda Item 8 – County Attorney Agreement for Legal Services.
After discussion on the agreement and minor modifications, it was approved 3-2 (Taylor and Joseph being no votes.)
Once approved, Commissioner Joseph expressed her concern about signing the contract without confirmation that there would be no criminal repercussions. Attorney Kommando indicated there was no reason he knows of that she could not sign the agreement but if she were uncomfortable, she could delegate to someone else. She stated that is what she would do.
The agreement can be found here: County Attorney’s Legal Agreement
You can watch the video here: Discussion on County Attorney Agreement
Commissioner’s reports
Commissioner Whitehurst – Congratulations to the Gators on recent athletic wins. Very impressed with his tour of Saint Augustine Youth Services (SAYS) and recommended all commissioners should take that tour. Learn more about SAYS here: SAYS Website
Commissioner Whitehurst also shared a recap of his recent visits to Tallahassee and all the legislators he met with while in Tallahassee pursuing actions and funding on behalf of St. Johns County.
And concluded with Happy Easter to all those who celebrate
Commissioner Arnold – Also shared an update on the visits to Tallahassee. Taking off her Commissioner hat for a moment, she spoke about bills moving through the House and Senate right now that could potentially result in loss of funding to special programs in St. Johns County included IP, AP, AICE, CTE and Dual Enrollment programs. She encouraged all parents to do their own research, come to their own conclusions and reach out to the legislators if they are so inclined.
Commission Taylor – Shared an update on her visits to Tallahassee. She asked for clarification about the bill related to funding for the IGP and I-95 interchange. Senator Leek had pointed out that this item was number 6 on the priority list and she wanted clarification to Senator Leek that it is one the County’s Top priorities. She talked about a letter requesting the funding and wanted to include in the letter that the county is requesting $10 Million dollars in federal funding.
See previous post about the requested appropriations for IGP and I-95 improvements here: Florida Legislative Appropriations Process Blog
Commissioner Murphy – Shared he was wearing his Autism Awareness hat he got while attending a recent Re-Certification class with Old Town Trolley Tours.
He asked for consensus to direct staff to review some standing committees that have been inactive for some time. This will come back to the Board as an Agenda item.
He also talked about the trips to Tallahassee and the importance of the Commissioners going to Tallahassee and developing relationships that will allow them to bring home more money from Tallahassee. In order to meet the goal of a tax rollback, the county must have money from Tallahassee.
Commissioner Joseph raised a point that when they were in Tallahassee, Commissioners Arnold and Whitehurst were meeting with the legislators separately from Commissioners Joseph, Murphy, and Taylor. This devolved into a bit of a debate between Commissioners Joseph and Whitehurst that is worth watching at the link below.
Commissioner Joseph asked about updating the letter to Senator Leek about funding for the IGP-I-95 exchange. County Administrator Andrews explained that there are very careful discussions with Congressman Rutherford’s office about what that number might be and they do not want to submit a number that has not been agreed to by his office. (Again reference the process outlined in the link to a previous blog post above.)
Commissioner Joseph also sent Happy Anniversary wishes to her husband on their 35th Anniversary on April 16.
Watch the Reports here for more context and detail: Commissioner’s Reports
County Administrator’s Report
Administrator Andrews expressed appreciation to the Board for Rich Kommando’s contract and expressed that this is the most impressive legal team they have had at the county during her tenure. She also had the Director of Growth Management Mike Roberson provide an update on the Comprehensive Plan timeline.
Administrator Andrews provided an update on the situation with Indianhead Biomass. A letter was issued to the business with code violations. The county is working with them to address the violations. She shared that the company does provide a valuable service to the county as they are the only vendor who addresses our biomass collection. They are still awaiting results of a study to determine if the odor violates current standards but are also talking with the company to bring down the odors.
County Attorney’s Report
Attorney Kommando pointed out to the Board that there are more than Appropriations of concern in Tallahassee this session including bills concerning condo associations and local preemptions. Deputy Attorney Kealey West thanked the Board for the decision about Attorney Kommando, commenting that he has been here for a year, guiding through a tumultuous time and they office looks forward to his continued leadership.
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Beth Tate 