ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A controversial new Florida law is giving agricultural landowners a faster path to residential development — and in St. Johns County, six properties are already on the table. Some commissioners say it’s taking away home rule, and they’re planning to fight back.
Near Nocatee in northern St. Johns County, more than 4,000 acres sit behind Mickler’s Wharf — land that could soon be developed for housing. It is one of six properties in St. Johns County on the list for agricultural enclave certification under SB 686, which took effect July 1.
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“It’s almost like what we call entitlements in the development world — before, if you can imagine an agricultural property, it could do farming, silviculture, but it couldn’t put single family on there. Now they have rights to do so,” Roberson said.
Prior to the law, a development of this scale would typically require changes to zoning or possible amendments to the comprehensive plan — a lengthy process that could include land use and zoning changes. Under the new statute, if a property gets certified, the county cannot reject it based on land use, zoning or even traffic. St. Johns County Growth Management Director Mike Roberson acknowledged the shift.
“This is a less authority. This is a removal of authority,” Roberson said. “I think there’s just been a general trend from the state producing laws that have given, as you say, a little more leeway or more flexibility for developers to maybe get entitlements.”
Once certified, Roberson said the rights are secured.
“Once they achieve those rights or those entitlements, they’ll get them in perpetuity,” Roberson said.
Roberson said county staff has 30 days to review each application before it heads to a public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners for a final decision.
Not everyone is on board. Commissioners Krista Joseph and Ann Taylor are pushing back hard, with Joseph calling for outside legal help to stop the law.
“At the next meeting I’m going to bring up that we need an attorney, an outside attorney, immediately to put in an injunction against this new law,” Joseph said.
Taylor echoed that sentiment.
“I don’t believe that we can be a doormat. We need to fight back,” Taylor said.
Residents are also alarmed. At a recent county commission meeting, one community member urged the board to act, while another pointed to traffic as a top concern.
“When Governor DeSantis comes back to Ponte Vedra Beach and wants to go to his favorite restaurant, he’ll notice that it will take 30 minutes to go four miles. That’s the traffic we have now in the beach. It’s overdeveloped as it is already,” the resident said.
“We’re right in the middle of that review,” Roberson said of the six pending applications. Once complete, they head to a public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners, where the final certification decision will be made.