ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County has advanced a 25-year comprehensive plan that has a focus on density bonuses, workforce housing, and transportation.
The county is moving forward with its plan meant to guide growth and development in the area.
Mike Roberson, Growth Management Director, highlighted key updates including increased density bonuses, workforce housing incentives, and transportation improvements.
“The comprehensive plan is the guiding document for growth in the county, and it includes a lot of different things. You have to look at it every seven years to make sure it needs to be updated,” Roberson said.
He noted the county’s significant growth, the 4th fastest growing county in the United States, requires adjustments to accommodate future needs.
On the new density bonus system, Roberson noted, “We had density bonuses, but they were calculated and had a different methodology. You want bonuses to be incentivized. You want them to incentivize developers to do it, and nobody really took advantage of it. So this is a different way... something we think they will take advantage of, and the county still gets a benefit of it.”
One major change is the increase in base residential density for areas designated for residential development, raising the limit from 13 units per acre to 16 units per acre. “They did bump it up three units for the base,” Roberson explained.
The plan also introduces new density bonuses.
“If you do something, you have to do something to get those, and that’s you can preserve wetlands, or you can come in with workforce housing. So if you do that, you’re bringing something to the table for the county, and in turn, you could get some additional density bonuses,” he said.
Transportation remains a critical focus.
“A lot of transportation is huge cost to do any kind of improvements these days. So a lot of that has to do with policies that guide us to work with the state and other organizations to try and get funding,” Robertson said.
Key projects include State Road 2209 and improvements at International Golf Parkway and I-95.
Roberson praised the collaborative effort.
“We had six workshops just away from the county complex... so we could be in their neighborhood and get their feedback,” he said. “Huge shout out to everybody pitching in and ultimately the commissioners for coming together and moving something forward.”
