County Commissioners Deny 4,462-acre Palm Valley Agricultural Enclave Application

St. Johns County commissioners denied an agricultural enclave application Tuesday that would have advanced plans to build more than 4,400 new homes on undeveloped land north of Palm Valley Road, while a smaller agricultural enclave application won approval.

Commissioner Clay Murphy cast the deciding vote against the 4,462-acre Palm Valley Road proposal, siding with slow-growth Commissioners Krista Joseph and Ann Taylor. Commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst voted against the denial.

The county is currently preparing to seek an injunction against SB 686, the new state law which developers had hoped to use to approve the proposal. The bill creates a fast-tracked application process for properties that satisfy agricultural enclave criteria, requiring an accelerated 90-day timeline and making it more difficult for local governments to deny them.

Since SB 686 took effect July 1, 15 agricultural enclave applications have been filed in St. Johns County, including two new ones submitted Monday. Four have been withdrawn after county staff found they did not meet SB 686’s criteria. 

Adding to the stakes is the Aug. 18 election of Martin Pyszczymuka, who ran on an outspoken slow-growth platform. He will take the place of the development-friendly Arnold in November, meaning new applications will soon have to face three staunch opponents of development.

The proposal commissioners denied Tuesday has been a source of controversy for weeks and dominated discussion at the past several county meetings. 

The item was initially heard on Aug. 19, but after hours of opposition from residents and debate among commissioners, it was continued to the Sept. 1 meeting. At that meeting, separate motions to approve and deny the application each failed 2-3 after Murphy voted no each time, but commissioners did vote 3-2 to begin the process of seeking an injunction against the law.

However, since the commission had not actually voted down the application, the 90-day time limit established by SB 686 meant that the application would have automatically been approved if commissioners did not act by Sept. 29. Tuesday’s vote to formally deny the application means the battle will now likely move to the courts.

Joseph and Taylor said that is exactly where they feel the issue should be decided.

“The message cannot be any clearer,” Taylor said. “We want to deny this and defend this in court.”

She argued courts, not the commissioners, were best suited to scrutinize whether the application had met the technical criteria, noting the property met one of SB 686’s requirements by just 512 feet along a 58,000-foot perimeter.

Rogers-Tower attorney Ellen Avery-Smith, who represents the applicant, continued to insist the application met all agricultural enclave criteria, and protested that the county’s decision to hold a third hearing on the topic violated the accelerated process established by SB 686.

Her assertions were countered by an attorney from Jacksonville who appeared on behalf of a group of county residents. He acknowledged his limited experience in land use law, but claimed Avery-Smith’s explanation of SB 686’s requirements concerning surrounding uses was debatable and “not the best” interpretation of the statutes.

Pushing back on the anti-development sentiment in the room, Whitehurst argued that residents have “voted with their dollars,” and that the county’s growth is just a manifestation of people choosing to live in St. Johns. He pointed out that none of the five sitting commissioners were born in the county.

“We do live in a free-market economy. You vote with your dollars: stop spending money on housing and people will stop building houses,” Whitehurst said.

Murphy ultimately broke the stalemate by voting to deny the application. He expressed his frustration with the new state law, and said he planned to collect signatures and travel to Tallahassee for the opening of the next session so he could push lawmakers to repeal SB 686.

When the 3-2 vote to deny the application passed, those in attendance erupted into prolonged cheers and applause.

Two smaller agricultural enclave applications were also on the agenda, one of which passed when Murphy sided with Arnold and Whitehurst. That application encompasses 310 acres west of Pacetti Road and north of County Road 208, which will allow up to 1.08 units per acre, or about 335 homes.

Avery-Smith, again representing the applicant, emphasized her client’s requested housing density was far below the five homes per acre allowed under the county’s zoning for the property.

Another application would have permitted up to 150 dwellings, or 0.4 homes per acre, to be built on 379 acres located east of Interstate 95 and south of County Road 210 West, but the item was pulled from the agenda. It is not immediately clear why it was pulled or when it will next appear before the board.