ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously voted against a proposal to bring nearly 300 affordable apartments to Northwest St. Johns County.
Commissioners agreed there is a huge need to bring more affordable housing to a county that doesn’t have enough housing for its teachers, law enforcement officers and firefighters. Still, they decided to vote against the project because of potential traffic concerns in the area that has exploded in population over the past 20 years.
The plan was to build the workforce housing apartments behind a U-Haul site in what was a bull pasture along County Road 16 near Silverleaf Parkway, not far from Wards Creek Elementary.
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National affordable housing developer Dominium said it had faced pushback from residents over traffic but it also presented a plan to address that, including widening a road.
The developer secured the Florida Department of Transportation’s approval for a $7 million traffic improvement plan.
Dominium said it would have funded the traffic plan, which included adding more through lanes on State Road 16 and Silverleaf Parkway to handle more traffic during regular and peak hours. It also included adding a left-turn lane on State Road 16 and a receiving lane to help accommodate future growth.
The road-widening project on CR-16 was expected to be completed in late 2027 and the apartments would have been ready for residents in late 2028.
The project would have brought 288 affordable apartments to the area where at least 7,000 essential workers can’t afford to live without being rent-burdened. All of the units would have been reserved for those earning 60% or less of the area median income, with rents ranging from $1,183 to $1,511, depending on bedroom size. It would have been rented to residents who essentially are making between $40,000 to $60,000 a year, the developer said.
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“Dominium is tremendously disappointed in today’s outcome,” Katessa Archer, Senior Development Associate at Dominium, said in a statement to News4JAX. “We appreciate the many community leaders who showed up today and courageously voiced their support for much-needed affordable housing in St. Johns County. While the vote did not go the way we had hoped, we urge the Board of County Commissioners to hear the plea of many of their constituents and find solutions for the extreme housing unaffordability across St. Johns County and specifically in Northwest St. Johns County.
Affordable housing advocates and local business owners spoke in favor of the project.
“I have employees who work [at a nearby location] that are good, hardworking people that travel an hour to work every day because they can’t afford to live here,” said Chase Ellison, a regional manager for Liberty Landscape Supply. “I ask that we really think about this, and the people who are serving people a hamburger at a Whataburger or someone that is loading a customer’s car with plants, that they are just as important as somebody who is a lawyer or doctor.”
A large group of residents from nearby neighborhoods spoke out against the project citing traffic concerns and changes to the area’s makeup.
“Driving an hour to work. I’m sorry, not sorry,” said one St. Johns County resident who said he moved to the county three years ago from Pennsylvania after retiring from law enforcement. “I didn’t get to live here until I was 49, three years ago. Sorry, affordability, I earned a right to live here because I followed societal norms, I worked my way up...I earned it. If someone has to drive an hour to work that’s part of getting your career started to eventually grow and move up.”
