ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a new townhome development located near County Road 210 despite concerns over potential negative traffic impacts and wetlands located on the site.
With a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a request to rezone approximately 65 acres of land from Commercial Highway and Tourist (CHT) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) to allow for the development.
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“Tidal 210″ will have a maximum of 297 townhome units that will be located on the east side of Sandy Creek Parkway, south of County Road 210 and east of Interstate 95.
The approval came after a request was heard by the Planning and Zoning Agency at their regularly scheduled public hearing in March and was recommended for denial, 3-3.
The developer also got pushback from residents of Sandy Creek, a nearby development, who said the traffic will be snarled in the area if the project is built.
“It’s development that’s necessary however my feeling on what’s transpiring with regard to this specific instance in our neighborhood is that the access is only one way in and one way out,” Max Salsedo, a Sandy Creek resident said.
According to the developer, the “high-end townhome” project will be gated and no non-residential development is proposed and most on-site wetlands connected to Twelve Mile Swamp will be preserved.
The developer noted the project will connect to Moon Bay Parkway, then onto County Road 210 at the traffic signal.
The developer said Mattamy is willing to prepay project road impact fees up front, for approximately $2.7 million for transportation mitigation. The developer said St. Johns County can use that money for payment of matching funds to FDOT for the addition of a fifth lane of County Road 210 near I-95, which it says will help traffic flow.
“I take my son to school every single day that I work from home, and I have to leave 45 minutes early just to get him to four miles away,” Salsedo said.
Mike Roberson, the growth management director of St. Johns County said traffic will eventually look different there.
“So there’s another developer commitment that’s there that eventually, it’s with regard to Sandy Creek. It’s additional units in Sandy Creek when they come in, it trips a threshold where that developer has to connect Sandy Creek Parkway with Moon Bay Parkway, and then those residents can get on Moon Bay Parkway, and there’s a traffic signal,” Roberson said.
The project will be completed in a ten-year phase starting no later than 2028.
