Developers of a denied plan to build a 3,332 residential-unit “agrihood” in St. Johns County will pursue outside mediation.
Boston-based Freehold Communities is behind the project.
On May 6, the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners voted to take no action and allow a mediator to make a nonbinding recommendation.
The Commission unanimously rejected a required rezoning request for the project — from Open Rural to Planned Urban Development — on Nov. 5.
Following a March 28 mediation with Special Magistrate and former Circuit Court Judge Michael Traynor, the county had two options at its May 6 meeting: Authorize Freehold to schedule a public rezoning hearing with proper public notice and advertising, or return to mediation to avoid a lawsuit.
Landowner Robinson Improvement Co. later sought 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.
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.