ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Board of Commissioners denied a rezoning request for new housing in St. Johns County on Tuesday.
Development in St. Johns County has been booming for several years. Some have been attracted to the area for public schools, a new home or a more rural feel.
With the uptick in people moving to St. Johns County more traffic and infrastructure concerns have developed too.
Doug Burnett with St. Johns Law Group was at a Tuesday night meeting to get a rezoning approval for the new development.
The project would be in the center part of the county near Holmes Boulevard north of Four Mile Road not far from St. Augustine Lakes.
The plan for the new development Preserve at St. Augustine couldn’t happen without the land being rezoned.
Burnett said the new homes would not have a negative impact on local schools, traffic flow, or drainage; and over 100 acres of wetlands would be preserved.
But residents disagreed.
Zeke Williams lives near the area where the new development would be. He said the area is rural, natural, and quiet and he believes that will be lost with another development in St. Johns County.
“They say they’re adding all this infrastructure to a much-needed area,” Williams said. “If you look at the plans right here this is a 30-foot private easement that all my neighbors access the road... (they) said there aren’t any wetlands. This whole road is going through wetlands.”
Other residents had concerns.
Steve Stewart grew up in the county and is familiar with the area of the proposed development. As a child, he remembers exactly what the area was like before development.
“Y’all need to think about this before y’all impact all of us,” Stewart said. “This is not right. Would you like another 800 to 900 cars riding in your neighborhood? Think about it.”
Jean Prickett talked about the quality of the roads.
“The concern I bring to you today is one that my neighbors share of compatibility, but connectivity particularly is my concern and I’ve heard it from my fellow residents of St. Augustine Lakes, the infrastructure roads are simply deficient,” Prickett said.
Officials recommended PUD 2023-14 for rezoning approval 4 to 3 in May 2024. The commissioners decided this project would not move forward.
“I am going to be moving to deny PUD 2023-14 The Preserve at St. Augustine Lakes based on 10 findings of fact provided in the staff report,” Commissioner Sarah Arnold said.
That motion was seconded by Commissioner Whitehurst, and the board unanimously denied the rezoning.
For the residents, this is considered a victory as current drainage and infrastructure issues remain.
Though the rezoning was denied, Whitehurst asked for experts to assess the current drainage issues that the residents are already dealing with.