The St. Johns County Planning & Zoning Agency recommended approval Aug. 20 for a last-mile distribution facility matching the description of an Amazon delivery center.
Jacksonville-based Fountains of St Augustine LLC wants to allow up to a 125,000-square-foot last-mile warehouse and distribution center at 3960 Inman Road, at northeast Interstate 95 and Florida 16 near St. Augustine Outlets.
The agency recommended approval of a request for a planned unit development modification, 2020-09, to Ordinance 2015-12, which is the Fountains of St. Augustine PUD for a motorhome resort.
The modification would eliminate the motorhome use and allow for the delivery center. It would change the name to Last Mile Distribution Facility PUD.
Fountains of St. Augustine owns the 58.74-acre undeveloped property, which includes 32.4 acres of wetlands. Of that, 32.33 acres would be preserved.
The St. Johns Board of County Commissioners will make the final determination.
The original site plan submitted June 30 showed the building along the north property line to avoid the wetlands. It had vehicular parking and staging along Inman Road and south of the building.
Van queuing allows for 48 vehicles along the south side of the building and truck and trailer loading docks along the east side of the facility. The facility needs parking for 190 auto spaces and 658 van spaces.
The truck entrance is near the northwest corner of the site opposite the Tuscany Village townhome community.
Before the agency meeting, the applicant representatives of Jacksonville-based law firm Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow and the developer Ryan Cos. US Inc. of Minneapolis met virtually with Tuscany Village property owners.
Ryan provided an alternate plan that maintained the location for the building and associated van queuing and loading docks.
The revisions address resident noise and lighting concerns by relocating the truck entrance to the southern portion of the site across from the Burkhardt beer and wine distribution facility and directs truck travel as far east from Inman Road as possible without impacting the wetlands.
Connelly & Wicker Inc. is the civil engineer.
The initial application for the last-mile distribution facility was labeled DJX6, which matches the code references used by Amazon.com for its centers. The label does not appear on the current application by a different agent.