JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — St. Johns County is preparing for 26 years of community change, ahead of a huge expected increase in people moving in.
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The county had two meetings with neighbors to hear their ideas for the future of St. Johns, all being considered in the county’s “comprehensive plan.” It’s a plan charting the ways in which the county is expected to grow through 2050, with these included factors as guidelines to prepare:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Managing the coasts
- Economic development
Neighbors at today’s meetings gave plenty of offers for how they want to see change in the county, from ways to protect the environment to building better roads and finding essential workers a place to live.
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“We need to preserve what we have and create smart development,” says Keith Matthews, who lives in St. Augustine and came to today’s meetings to advocate for keeping the environment safe.
“If we don’t get affordable housing built, most of these other efforts won’t make much of a difference,” says Ervin Bullock, who’s lived in the county for more than a decade and wants workers to have more low-cost places to live.
Right now, there are around 350 developments in the works around the county, most of which are in northern St. Johns. But the county tells Action News Jax it’s expecting to see more future development south of State Road 207 and County Road 208, closer to Elkton and Hastings. At the moment, that’s where less work is being done.
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“That’s all undeveloped, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in that area,” says Michael Roberson, Director of Growth Management for the county. “But this plan is not just about new places and new land, but what we can do with existing places and enhancing them.”
Even though the plan accounts for growth through 2050, the county tells Action News Jax it’s expected to almost double in size by then. It’s after a recent report from the University of Florida projecting the chance for the county’s population to go from 315,317 to 652,600 by then.
“That’s a lot of growing, and we need to plan ahead and well in advance,” Roberson says.
Action News Jax’s Finn Carlin asked the county about whether or not possible plans for the World Golf Village property fall into the mix. We told you back in April when the county bought the World Golf Hall of Fame, the IMAX Theatre and the PGA Tour Productions building for $5.5 million, at the time.
The county says it hasn’t marketed the property for proposals from developers just yet, but it does have one priority for the property.
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“We want to make sure that whatever developer comes in, it’s appropriate.”
But some neighbors have their sights set on the county’s future.
“The growth isn’t going to stop, but it needs to be done smartly,” Matthews says.
Not all are expecting the county’s development to slow, but are hoping for the right ones to help the county grow.
“We need this growth, but it needs to be planned better,” says Bullock.
The county’s comprehensive plan is still in the works, and could see more changes in the coming months. But the county says it expects to have the plan locked in sometime early next year.
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