ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — People living in the Sandy Creek neighborhood of St. Johns County are pushing back against a plan to put 297 townhomes on the undeveloped woods nearby.
The developer is wanting to put it just north of their neighborhood, which would end up lying by the intersection of Sandy Creek Parkway and County Road 210, which is right off Interstate 95.
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The Florida Department of Transportation says around 25,000 cars, on average, drive along the part of CR-210 near the neighborhood site every day.
“It’s just a recipe for disaster with traffic,” said Andrew Fletcher, who’s on the HOA board for the Sandy Creek neighborhood.
Fletcher, along with other neighbors in Sandy Creek, say all the townhomes would make traffic much worse.
“Adding those residences is going to create an absolute gridlock, particularly with rush hour in the morning and after work,” Fletcher said.
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Action News Jax went by the site where the developer is hoping to build the townhomes and found some of the trees have already been cleared away.
The project still needs to be approved, but the developer is promising to pay for some of the $11 million the county says it would cost to widen CR-210 near Sandy Creek Parkway from four to six lanes.
But as Action News Jax told you last week, there are already multiple other road construction projects happening along CR-210.
Neighbors say they’re not opposed to the townhomes being built, themselves, but want road work to finish up before a project like this starts.
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“Our quality of life has been diminished greatly due to this overbuilding and the traffic,” said Carolyn Ward, who also serves on Sandy Creek’s HOA.
The road project, from county records, would happen to help make traffic smoother in the area. But people living nearby say it’s already a problem to deal with and worry it will be made worse, regardless of whatever road work is done.
The project was considered Thursday by St. Johns County’s planning and zoning agency for a recommendation. The agency voted 3-3, which Deputy County Attorney Lex Taylor said is a technical denial. Taylor said the project is still expected to go to the St. Johns County Board of county commissioners for final approval during their meeting on May 6.
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