By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
The commission meeting wasn’t formal. But the agenda items didn’t bode well for builders.
Impact fees. Local road dedications. Rural land considerations. Comprehensive plan amendment consolidation.
St. Johns County commissioners met for a second time in 2015 to discuss development in the fast-growing county — how to manage it and how to pay for it.
It was only a workshop. But the fact that growth has been examined twice in six months could mean change is coming.
One clue as to why — the recession left $270 million worth of deferred road, sewer, parks and library projects.
Amid shrinking tax revenues, money normally earmarked for capital needs had been shifted to maintenance.
St. Johns County is about $120 million behind on road projects and another $120 million behind on water projects, libraries and parks.
Maintenance also is an issue.
Commissioner Jay Morris said the 2016 budget falls $4 million short on funds needed for road maintenance. A portion of those funds come from impact fees charged to builders, which were lowered during the recession.
“You better take a look at how you’re going to solve it,” Morris said. “I’m not for taxes, but I’m a realist. I see what’s coming.”
Builders weren’t solely targeted. Commissioners floated the idea of a gas tax and a millage increase, too.
Another scary question that was raised: Should St. Johns County accept road dedications from private communities? Developers fund and build the roads as part of their business model, intending to dedicate them to the county once homes have been sold.
But that adds to the county’s road maintenance costs in what are mostly bedroom communities without many thru-highways or commercial assets.
“I don’t know the answer,” said Commissioner Rachel Bennet. “But if we can’t pay for what we have now… what can we do? How can we accept new roads?”
Commercial development appears to be a hole in the finance doughnut for St. Johns County.
Residential growth in the northern part of the county has not seen intended commercial development follow.
Commissioner Bill McClure wondered if there was a way to better incentivize commercial projects.
Jason Sessions, who led the development at Durbin Crossing, weighed in. His company owns more than 100,000 square feet of commercial entitlements in Durbin Crossing.
“We have begged, pleaded and borrowed to try to give that land away,” he said.
For one prospect, the permitting took more than 18 months and cost over $200,000. The company pulled out when code blocked the needed entrance/exit right-of-ways.
“The permitting process is so painful that it doesn’t allow for expedited growth to happen,” he said. “There’s a reason developers don’t put any money on (the commercial entitlements) in their pro-forma. We need to look at that.”