StJohnsCounty – Page 13

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

Posted on September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 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

Switzerland Point & Hickory Creek access improvements

Timeline of construction and improvements

Student Generation as presented by the developer

Letter from the School Board thanking the developer for improvements

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

Posted on September 4, 2023 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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BOCC, St. Johns County

What’s On the September 5 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting Agenda

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Beth Tate

September 5 finds us back to a long Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting. Pack a lunch! We will be there awhile!

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.

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

There are 3 Proclamations being presented at the September 5 BOCC meeting.

Hispanic Heritage Month
Constitution Week
Library Card Sign-up Month

Consent Agenda Items of interest

There are 2 items on the Consent Agenda that are of great interest to those following The Landings development in Greenbriar.

Read the details here: Consent Agenda Item 3

Read the details here: Consent Agenda Item 4

Consent Agenda item 5 is an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Bartram Park DRI (Race Track Road). This impacts a much needed widening of the only 2 lane portion of Race Track Road in the northern part of the county.

This MOU would be between Bartram Park, LTD, Bartram Park Associates, LLC and St. Johns County and details the obligations of the Bartram Park developer for the widening of Race Track Road from 2 to 4 lanes between Bartram park Blvd to Bartram Springs Pkway as required by the Bartram Park DRI Developoment Order. This MOU provides for the construction and partial funding of the design in conjunction with the City of Jacksonville and the Florida Department of Transportation.

Details are here: Consent Agenda Item 5

Consent Agenda Item 6 is a Resolution approving the terms and authorizing the County Administrator, or designee, to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement for acquisition of approximately 30 acres of land located off County Road 13 South for conservation and approving a transfer of LAMP reserves up to $735,000 for the purchase of the property. The purchase negotiations were previously approved by the Board and this the approval of the execution for the purchase of the property. There is no indication how the County will utilize the property in the future.

Details are here: Consent Agenda item 6

Consent Agenda Item 26 is an item that may bring criticism from the audience. The Cultural Events Division is requesting incremental future funding of $3,705,806 for renovation costs for the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. Prices have been adjusted for construction inflation and other pricing increases. This will bring the total to $9,135,806 and would be part of the St. Johns County Capital Improvement Plan. This would be allocated for the Year 2025 budget cycle.

Details here: Consent Agenda Item 26

Regular Agenda Items

Moving into the Regular Agenda items, 1 – 4 will most likely be heard as one presentation. This is the Adoption Hearing for the Comprehensive Plan Amendment and PUD for The Landings at Greenbriar and The Landings at St. Johns (Active Adult.) These were previously approved for transmittal and now comes the Adoption Hearing. As this will be the last opportunity for public comment on these projects, I anticipate a large audience for this item. Concerns raised by residents have included school capacity (mitigation in the Consent Agenda items above,) increased traffic on over-crowded roads, and incompatibility with surrounding developments.

Regular readers may recall the builder is committing to road improvements in front of the schools as part of the application. The School Board has endorsed these improvements.

Details can be found at the links below.

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

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

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

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

Agenda Items 5 and 6 also impact 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.

Agenda Item 9 will be 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

At 5:01, time certain, will be an item of interest to all Property Owners in St. Johns County, the Public Hearing on the Adoption of Tentative Millage Rates & Budget for FY 2024.

With the receipt of TRIM notices last week, there has been much discussion and many questions about the increase in Property Tax bills across the county.

This will be the first public hearing with the final public hearing recommendation date being September 19. This is 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

“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/”

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PZA, St. Johns County, Workforce Housing

Summary of the August 17, St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency Meeting

Posted on August 22, 2023 by Beth Tate

Ponte Vedra Club PUD – Change in Date

The meeting started off with a statement from Chair Matovina that the Ponte Vedra Resort PUD would not be heard and has been continued to September 21.

For those interested in this PUD, there are other important meetings associated with this PUD review:

Sept 6, 5:00 PM, the Architectural Review Committee Meeting at the Sawgrass Mariott
Sept 11, 11:00 AM, the Ponte Vedra Planning and Adjustment Board at the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine
Sept 21, the Planning and Zoning Agency Meeting, time certain of 10:00, at the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine (subject to change.)
Nov 7 – the Board of County Commissioners meeting, 9:00 at the County Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine (subject to change.)

Mr. Matovina then shared some additional information for the Board. These items are reported as recorded in the meeting transcript with some editing for grammar:

“I want to make sure that we all understand that staff doesn’t work for us. We don’t give instructions to staff. They work for the St. Johns County Manager who ten reports to the board so I think that, that is something we should understand. There is a lot of discussion about that item. And staff should not be asked to take direction from us. So that is number one.

Number two, I want to point out, the potential for conflict of interest. Because when we think of conflict of interest, we normally think of a monetary situation. Several that I have declared have been because DR Horton is my biggest customer.

If they have a rezoning up here, I clearly should declare a conflict of interest. But there are nonmonetary conflicts of interest. If you live next door to the development, you have a nonmonetary conflict of interest because you live next door to it. Our charge is to not only avoid an actual conflict of interest but also the perception of a conflict of interest.

So, I think thse are all things that are important for us to remember. Because there is going to be a lot of controversy surrounding this particular item on the 21^st. And we could potentially, you know, put any decision that is made in danger by not following rules that we are supposed to follow.

So, That’s all I have to say about that matter.”

Items on the Regular Agenda

The first two items were minor and did not have extensive discussion. Approved by the PZA were a Zoning Variance in District 5 and a Minor Modification in District 4 to allow a Rear Yard setback to accommodate a swimming pool.

Item 3, in District 2

Elevation Pointe – Request for a Major Modification to the Elevation Pointe at Anderson Park PUD (Ordinance 1996-66, as amended) to increase wetland impacts with a corresponding decrease in preserved wetlands, open space and upland buffers; increase development area; reconfigure commercial outparcels; and decrease approved commercial entitlements from 190,000 SF to 170,000 SF.

“APPLICATION SUMMARY This is a request to modify the Elevation Pointe at Anderson Park PUD in order to accommodate a planned Publix Supermarket within the commercial portion of the development. The use is proposed at the corner of the future realigned CR 208 and SR 16. The applicant is seeking to reconfigure the commercial outparcels to allow for the use, which will result in additional impacts to adjoining wetlands and open space areas due to an increase in the development area. The applicant also proposes to decrease allowed commercial square footage within the PUD from a maximum 190,000 square feet to 170,000 square feet.”

Aerial view of the Elevation Pointe project

Included in the package for Thursday is a summary of comments received from the Public prior to the meeting.

“PHONE CALLS/CORRESPONDENCE Staff has received several phone calls regarding the proposed Major Modification. A majority of the calls were informational in nature with no stated objections. Several residential property owners to the west have called to express concerns about the proposed impacts to the wetlands, and the possibility of exacerbating drainage issues in the area. Several members of the public have also voiced frustration with regard to another Publix supermarket being built along SR 16, which would be the third Publix located along the SR 16 corridor between I-95 and International Golf Parkway. Staff noted to these callers that the County is unable to prohibit specific businesses from occupying designated commercial properties if the proposed use is allowed by right within the development.”

Elevation Pointe Presentation

This was approved 4-1

Item 4, in District 5

Whole 9 Yards. Request to rezone approximately 1.37 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Industrial Warehousing (IW), located at 5285 Big Oak Road S. This is property located in the Airport District.

Whole 9 Yards Presentation

Aerial View of The Whole 9 Yards project location

Several residents spoke against this development because of the impact on the residential nature of the area.

There was quite a bit of discussion about what is allowed in the Airport District. Of note, the Airport Authority will need to review this item before it is presented to the Commissioners in September.

The application was denied by the PZA.

Item 5, in District 2

Deer Run Road PUD. Request to Rezone approximately 25.12 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow up to 26 duplexes for a total of 52 dwelling units, specifically located at 2380 Deer Run Road, 1109 Fazio Road, and 1150 Fazio Road.

This development appears to represent more much needed attainable housing in St. Johns County.

“APPLICATION SUMMARY The Applicant is seeking to rezone approximately 25.12 acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for a maximum of 52 dwelling units consisting of 26 residential duplexes. The applicant asserts that the development will provide multi-family housing options for residents that are employed at the area businesses near the SR 16 and I-95 corridor at a price that they can afford. The applicant points out that the proposed duplexes will provide a more affordable and lower maintenance option as compared to single-family homes without the higher density of multi-family townhomes and apartments.” Deer Run Road Presentation

Aerial view of Deer Run Road project location

Questions were asked of the applicant if this was truly Workforce Housing. They indicated they did not know the threshold for Workforce Housing. When told that the threshold was $260,000, the acknowledge this is not workforce housing but at a range of $300,000 would be more affordable than other homes in the area.

Local residents objected to the development because of the impact on traffic on 4-Mile Road.

After discussion, this was approved 3-2.

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BOCC, St. Johns County

Update on the August 15 St. Johns County Board of County Commissioner’s Meeting

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Beth Tate

The August 15 meeting was refreshingly short! With no Proclamations on the agenda, the Board was able to move quickly into the Public Safety Update

Public Safety Update

SJSO Director Scott Beaver reported that 54,000 kids have now returned to school in St. Johns County, across 43 public schools. Noting that traffic is always much worse during the first 2 weeks of school as everyone gets into a new routine, he asked for patience during this “chaotic” time. He also shared that SJSO has been working hard to cut down on crashes in the county through proactive actions by deputies. They are on a projected path to decrease 71% of our traffic crashes in SJC and 55% of traffic related deaths. He added, “ If you get mad because you get a ticket, we probably saved your life or someone else’s”

Fire Rescue Chief Bullard also commented on school starting and that usually being the signal of the end of summer. He reminded us that August is the hottest part of the year, please stay out of the sun if you have that option and please stay hydrated. He recommended drinking plenty of non-alcoholic fluids and noted the fine line between heat exhaustion and heat stroke. His admonition was to give your body time to recover when you’ve been in the heat for an extended period of time.

The Clerk of the Court’s update was skipped as they are providing the Financial Report on Agenda Item 1.

Consent Agenda

The County Attorney asked for one item to be pulled from the Consent Agenda, Item 18.

Consent Agenda Item 18 was “Resolution approving the First Amendment to the Amended and Restated Utility Service and Refund Agreement for the SilverLeaf Development of Regional Impact.”

Regular Agenda

Item 1 – Comprehensive Financial Report – Brandon Patty

The Financial Report was a presentation by the external audit firm, MSL, on the completed audit for the Fiscal Year ended in June, 2022.

The audit report can be found at this link: St. Johns County Financial Report

There were no significant issues noted in the audit, internal controls are effective and the county is in sound financial status.

The presentation can be found here: Auditor’s Presentation on the Financial Report

Regular Agenda Item 2 – Hastings Main Street – presented by Sally O’Hara and Jenna Davis.

“The Florida Main Street Program solicits communities annually to submit applications for Florida Main Street Program designations. Currently, there are 57 such programs in Florida whose purpose is to improve economic development within a context of historic preservation. The benefits of attaining designation contribute to increased professional technical assistance and training for participating communities, guidance for national best practices for community development, and advantageous grant scoring considerations for future funding. The focus of national and state Main Street programs is to: a) create jobs through revitalizing districts attracting new industry and strengthening services and retail job markets; b) save tax dollars through revitalization and strengthening of the area’s tax base, while also protecting existing investments; c) preserve the community’s historic resources for an economically healthy downtown and preservation of the community’s heritage; and d) build community pride providing a public space for members from all areas of the community to come together, create new partnerships, and celebrate their downtown. Hastings Main Street, Inc. is submitting an application to the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources to be recognized as a Florida Main Street community. The Main Street Program application requires the support of the local government in the form of a resolution.”

There was unanimous approval for the resolution.

Read more about the Hasting Main Street Program here: Hastings Main Street

You can read more about the Florida Main Street program here: Florida Main Street Program

Item 3 – New Twin Creeks signage – this was a simple request to modify the PUD to allow for new signage in the Twin Creeks PUD.

Commissioner Whitehurst took the opportunity to ask County Attorney Migut for an update on negotiations with the developer regarding obligations for road improvements. Attorney Migut shared that there is good progress. There is already a bid package out with responses due 8/30 for a traffic light at Cumberland Park Drive and 210. Another package is being prepared for the widening of 210 and should be out for bid by 9/1.

Items 4 – 11 were relatively minor with no significant comments.

Jumping ahead to Agenda item 12, the “First Reading of Proposed Amendments to St. Johns County Ordinance No. 2009-36, the St. Johns County Ordinance which prohibits the presence of registered sexual offenders and sexual predators within 300 feet of specified locations designed for children.”

The full ordinance can be found here: Presentation on Sexual Offender/Predator Ordinance

This Ordinance specifically addresses “prohibiting the presence of registered sexual offenders and sexual predators from being present, loitering or prowling within three hundred (300) feet of specified locations that are primarily designed for used by, or are primarily used by children in St. Johns County (“County”)”

During public comment there was a question raised about some of the language in the ordinance.

Could the language be changed to match the state statute? Distance in the ordinance is 300 feet, State Statutes state 1000 feet.

Could the terminology of “Amenity Center” be added to the language? Amenity Centers in CDDs and HOAs are a large portion of HOAs and CDDs and a great area where residents congregate.

The Assistant Attorney clarified that the 1000 feet is in reference to registered sexual offenders and sexual predators cannot LIVE within 1000 feet of a school. It does not extend to parks.

As for adding Amenity Centers, the ordinance is targeting places that are designed primarily for the use of children. Amenity Centers are not designed primarily for children.

It would be up to the Board to direct the ordinance to be modified differently.

By consensus, the Board agreed they would like to see the distance changed to 1000 feet and to include Amenity Centers in the ordinance.

The Attorney’s office will research and confirm there would be no legal hurdles with modifying the ordinance to include those items and will bring that back to the Board for the Second Reading, possibly in September.

Commissioner’s Reports:

Commissioner Alaimo asked staff to review and come back to the Board recommendation for parking at Tortuga Beach Walkover.

Commissioner Dean provided an update on the beach renourishment projects and reminded residents that keeping our beaches viable is a benefit to all County residents because of the impact on our County economy.

Commissioner Joseph asked about options for providing funding to Fort Mose. By consensus, the board agreed to hear recommendations on how to accomplish this.

Commissioner Arnold requested agreement from the Board to support Flagler Estates in getting their own Zip Code. The Board agreed.

Commissioner Whitehurst talked about the return on investment the county gains as a member of the Northeast Florida Regional Council.

County Administrator Report

Interim County Administrator Joy Andrews shared several items with the Board including the creation of a new Infrastructure Team that will be working on ways to expedite strategic infrastructure projects. She asked for this to be a standing item on the first BOCC meeting each month, to follow right after the Clerk of the Court’s report.

She asked the Board for a motion to send letters of support for the widening of State Route 16 between International Golf Parkway and I-95 to the Florida Department of Transportation and the US Department of Transportation. Motion was passed.

Ms. Andrews also provided timeline clarifications on a project of great interest that will be coming before the Board in a few weeks. This project is the Ponte Vedra Resorts PUD. The applicant has pulled their application from the August 17 PZA meeting and there is a new schedule.

Ponte Vedra Resorts PUD Schedule:

Ponte Vedra Architecture Review Board – September 6
Ponte Vedra Zoning and Adjustment Board – September 11
Planning and Zoning Agency – September 21, at 10:00 AM time certain (tentative, could still be changed)
Board of County Commissioners Meeting – November 7

With no other business, the meeting was adjourned.

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