Q: Can you share some background on your “yes” vote for the Landings at Greenbriar and the Landings at St. Johns at the Sept. 5 Board of County Commissioners Meeting?
A: After attending multiple meetings over the course of the last 18 months I was able to arrive at a decision to approve The Landings based on these facts:
1. The proposed development is an “infill” parcel. (A vacant parcel surrounded by development) Our LDC encourages development on infill lots.
2. The proposed development was Residential B (2 units per acre), which is what the Future Land Use Map had this land zoned for. The FLUM is a guide for what kind of development is coming and is a guide for developers when making decisions about where to build. Any resident can pull up the FLUM on the county’s website to see what the land around them is zoned for and that way they will know what development to expect in the coming years.
3. They saved 49 percent of the land in preservation/open space, not to be developed. Although the use was Res-B they are building less than two units per acre when you look at the over 900 acres of land contained within the parcel boundaries. When a development can save hundreds of acres that is an environmental benefit that I wish more of our past projects could have included.
4. Nearly 60 percent of the approved homes are age restricted at 55+. This means almost 60 percent of the homes will have zero impact on our school district while still contributing taxes. The transportation engineers also explained that age restricted communities don’t travel as much during peak traffic hours, making the traffic impacts less difficult to mitigate.
5. The applicant was willing to widen their link of Greenbriar Road, a project that has been in the county’s plans for more than 20 years. They will widen it up front, before the first home is occupied. The traffic challenges that we are facing were caused by neighborhoods being built before the roads. This project recognizes the flaw in that plan and has done just the opposite.
6. The applicant had data from the St. Johns County School District that showed us how many children we could anticipate from this project. Those numbers combined with the fact that they will be opening three new K-8 schools in the next two years, before the first home in this project is occupied with a resident, showed our board that the schools would have adequate capacity.
As many of your readers now know, I am required by law to make my decisions based on the competent, substantial evidence presented at the hearing. It was based on all of these facts that I made the decision to vote to approve The Landings project.
Q: What can you tell us about the properties purchased via the LAMP program recently?
A: We approved the purchase of three parcels of land with high quality wetlands, about 30 acres off County Road 13 South for $735,000. When we purchase property with LAMP, the land will be conserved forever, to serve generations to come.
Q: Do you have an update on the widening of County Road 210 East, that was not completed by the Beachwalk developer as he promised?
A: The county has taken over this project from the developer, John Kinsey. Engineering and design is currently underway and we should see dirt moving in three to four months. The project will be completed and then we will send Mr. Kinsey the bill.
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you?
A: Readers can email me at bcc1cwhitehurst@sjcfl.us or call me at (904) 584-5348.
