A denied plan to build a 3,332 residential-unit “agrihood” in St. Johns County is back on the table.
Boston-based developer Freehold Communities is behind the project.
The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners unanimously rejected its rezoning request from Open Rural to Planned Urban Development on Nov. 5.
Landowner Robinson Improvement Co. is now seeking relief under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act, or FLUEDRA, a process aimed at resolving land use disputes without litigation.
The proposed site is between County Roads 208 and 214, west of Interstate 95, south of the St. Augustine Premium Outlets, and about 20 miles south of Shearwater, another Freehold development.
Following a March 28 mediation with Special Magistrate and former Circuit Court Judge Michael Traynor, the county will consider two options at its May 6 meeting: It can authorize Freehold to schedule a public rezoning hearing, with proper public notice and advertising, or return to mediation to avoid a lawsuit.
Freehold describes agrihoods as “an organized community that integrates agriculture into a residential setting.”
A 4-mile segment of County Road 2209 is also proposed to run through the development, connecting County Roads 204 and 208. Freehold plans to fund the road and donate it, along with associated stormwater ponds, wetlands, and upland buffers, to the county.
According to county documents, the project will be built in two 10-year phases. Construction must begin within five years of Jan. 1, 2026. No certificates of occupancy may be issued before Jan. 1, 2028, and no more than 500 units may be occupied before Jan. 1, 2030.
Using a 2.75 person-per-unit estimate, the development could house roughly 9,163 residents.
Freehold represents Robinson Improvement Co. of Brunswick, Georgia, which has owned the eight parcels designated for the project since 1906.