October 15 – County Commission Meeting

The regular meeting of the St Johns County Board of Commissioners was held Tuesday October 15, 2013, in the County Auditorium in the St Johns County Administration Palace located at 500 San Sebastian View in St Augustine.

The following items of business came before the Board for action:

Proclamations:
The Board proclaimed November 2013 as Pancreatic Cancer Month

Regular Agenda Item One – Tax Collector Report
In compliance with Florida Statute, 218.36, a representative of the St. Johns County Tax Collector Dennis Hollingsworth’s office presented a report regarding excess fees for FY2012-2013. These excess fees have already been estimated as a part of the County budget process and, therefore, do not necessarily represent additional County revenue. The Board unanimously approved the motion for total earned, unused, and undistributed revenue collected for the 2012-2013 tax year.

Regular Agenda Item Two – Public Hearing: REZ 2013-03 Costanero Road
Staff presented a request to rezone one platted lot from Commercial Neighborhood (CN) to Residential Mobile Home, Single Family (RMH(S)) with a recommendation to approve the request based on consistency with the Future Land Use Designation of Residential-C Coastal, consistency with development trends in the area, and compatibility with surrounding properties. The Board unanimously approved the motion to enact Ordinance 2013-30, REZ 2013-03, adopting findings of fact 1-4 to support the motion.

Regular Agenda Item Three – Public Hearing: PUD 2013-06 Coquina Ridge
Staff presented a request to rezone 114 acres from Open Rural (OR) to Planned Unit Development (PUD) in order to develop 104 single family lots on property located on the south side of Woodlawn Road Extension, just west of Woodlawn Road and approximately 0.5 of a mile north of S.R. 16. Staff recommends approval of the request, upon approval of the waiver, based on consistency with the Future Land Use Designation of Residential-C, consistency with development trends in the area, and compatibility with surrounding properties. The waiver request applies to Land Development Code Section 7.05.01. The Board unanimously approved the motion to enact Ordinance 2013-31, known as PUD 2013-06, adopting findings of fact 1-8 to support the motion.

Regular Agenda Item Four – Public Hearing: COMPAMD 2013-02 Heritage Oaks at St. Johns
Staff presented a transmittal hearing to amend the 2025 Future Land Use Map (FLUM) from Rural Silviculture (R/S) to Residential C for the Heritage Oaks Comprehensive Plan Amendment, and add a text amendment to limit the total number of lots not to exceed 99. The property is located on the southwest side of Russell Sampson Road and contains 37.24 acres. The applicant has met the applicable St. Johns County 2025 Comprehensive Plan requirements. The Board approved the motion 4–1 for the transmittal of COMPAMD 2013-02, Heritage Oaks, adopting findings of fact 1-3 to support the motion. State and regional agencies have 30 days to comment, then the County may schedule adoption hearings.

Regular Agenda Item Five – Hastings Branch Library Presentation
Staff presented the history and an overview of the potential future for the Hastings Branch Library, currently located at 195 S. Main St. in Hastings, FL. A review of potential options for the Hastings Library’s future location were outlined. The Board unanimously approved a motion to allocate up to $5,000 for an engineering study to analyze the costs associated with utilizing the Potato Exchange Building as a potential future Hastings Branch Library site.

Regular Agenda Item Six – Appointments to the Tourism Development Council
Two of the three vacancies are required to be filled by an owner/operator of a motel, hotel, or other tourist accommodations subject to the bed tax, and another appointee involved in tourist related businesses other than accommodations. Appointments to the TDC are required to be four year terms per Florida Statute 125.0104(4)(e). The Board reappointed Fred Cozby (Hotel/Motel/Accommodations Owner/Operator) and reappointed Bill Hughes (Non-accommodation Tourism Related Representative) for four-year terms to expire August 25, 2017.