St. Johns County Commissioners have advanced two rezoning applications under Florida’s new “agricultural enclave” law, paving the way for more than 15,158 new homes to be built on 1,166 acres.
Commissioners continued a third rezoning request affecting 4,462 acres, delaying it until the commission’s Sept. 1 meeting. The decision was made after residents raised questions about mapping discrepancies and whether the property was actually being used for agriculture as required by state law.
The two approved applications are owned by St. Augustine-based Heritage Development Group and are located on either side of I-95 immediately south of State Road 207. The parcels will have a maximum allowable density of 13 units per acre.
The other application is a 4,462-acre property owned by the Jacksonville-based PARC Group, located north of Palm Valley Road and just west of the Intracoastal. The applicant requested one unit per acre, which the applicant’s attorney Ellen Avery-Smith emphasized was less than the six units per acre it could have requested under state statutes.
All three rezoning applications were filed in accordance with SB 686, a new state law that went into effect July 1.
The law, sponsored by Ocala homebuilder and Sen. Stan McClain, requires local governments to approve rezoning requests within 60 days if they meet a set of criteria that qualifies them as “agricultural enclaves.” To qualify, the property must be owned by a person or entity, have been in “continuous use for bona fide agricultural purposes” for at least five years, and have at least 75% on its perimeter surrounded by parcels that are already developed.
A review by county staff determined that all three requests satisfied all the requirements established by SB 686.
However, residents alleged there was a mapping discrepancy on the northern boundary of the PARC Group property between the surveys presented by the applicant and those presented by the county. Residents argued that because the property’s perimeter met the surrounding uses requirement by less than 1%, even a slight mapping error might mean the application did not actually meet the criteria.
Chair Clay Murphy, who voted in favor of the other two applications, was sympathetic to residents’ concerns about the perimeter and moved to continue the rezoning until the Sept. 1 meeting. He said doing so would allow county staff time to look more closely at the property’s exact boundaries.
Commissioners Krista Joseph and Ann Taylor also pushed for an independent forestry expert to tour the property — which the applicant said is used for silviculture — to verify it had actually been continuously used as a logging operation. But Commissioner Christian Whitehurst said the board couldn’t apply a different standard to the PARC Group after it had already approved the Heritage Development applications, and Murphy agreed.
The board voted 4-1 to continue the item so the boundaries could be investigated more thoroughly. Commissioner Sarah Arnold, who is not running for reelection and participated via Zoom for a second meeting since she was charged in connection to a 2024 fake voter guide scheme, voted against delaying approval.
Taylor also moved to deny the first Heritage application, but Whitehurst said he saw no evidence that it failed to meet agricultural enclave criteria, and warned the county would be on “shaky legal footing” if it denied the requests.
Joseph, who voters reelected to a second term just 12 hours earlier, responded that commissioners each needed to vote independently and not be “bullied” by Whitehurst.
She grilled Avery-Smith, the attorney who presented on behalf of the PARC Group property, pressing her to commit to one unit per acre and submit to an inspection of the property by an independent forestry expert.
“It’s pretty cool the Davis family got this law made for them,” Joseph retorted, referencing the property’s owners, who founded Winn-Dixie. “This is going to collapse our infrastructure.”
Murphy — who has emerged as the board’s swing vote on growth and development — acknowledged St. Johns County has “growth fatigue.” However, he said that while he was “not happy” with the county’s rapid growth, he felt the county’s hands were tied by state law.
“I can’t think of a legal reason to vote to deny this that we can defend in court. The state has preempted us again and here we are,” said Murphy, who joined Whitehurst and Arnold in a pair of 3-2 votes Wednesday to approve the two Heritage applications.
Murphy was elected in 2024 on a “slow-the-growth” message alongside Taylor, but has angered some of those who voted for him by approving certain development applications.
In Tuesday’s primary election, slow-growth candidate Martin Pyszczymuka won the race to succeed Commissioner Arnold, who is perceived as friendly to development. His victory tips the balance of the commission firmly into the hands of the slow-growth side, but came too late to halt Wednesday’s rezonings.
Before Pyszczymuka assumes office Nov. 17, the board is already scheduled to consider three additional agricultural enclave rezoning requests, two on Sept. 15 and one on Oct. 6. County staff has already rejected three other applications filed the day SB 686 went into effect, finding they did not meet strict the necessary criteria established by the law.
In her closing remarks, Taylor once again urged commissioners to consider litigation.
“No other county in the state is being affected by SB 686 like St. Johns County is, we need to take a stand,” Taylor said, drawing applause.
