The Ponte Vedra Zoning and Adjustment Board unanimously recommended approval Aug. 3 of a major modification to the Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church campus, allowing the parish to replace aging buildings with a consolidated early learning and administrative facility.
The modification would increase the campus’s maximum allowable development entitlement from 62,779 to 78,800 square feet, with additional future allowances for uses including the sanctuary, parish hall, childcare center, faith formation building and administrative offices.
County staff reports noted no formal public opposition had been filed before the meeting, and no residents spoke during the public comment period.
On July 22, the Ponte Vedra Architectural Review Committee approved the design of the project on a 3-0 vote.
The 11.98-acre property at 545 A1A N., located roughly a half-mile south of Solana Road, is owned by the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Established in 1972 as a 73-family mission parish, Our Lady Star of the Sea has grown into a campus serving more than 2,900 families, as well as operating Palmer Catholic Academy, the parish’s pre-K through eighth-grade school dedicated in 1999.
The proposed redevelopment would replace existing youth center and educational center facilities with a single consolidated building on the south end of the property. The unified facility is intended to modernize early childhood education and religious instruction spaces while supporting the parish’s continued growth.
Jacksonville-based Connelly & Wicker Inc., a division of PRIME AE Group Inc., is serving as the project’s civil engineer.
Attorney Ellen Avery-Smith of the Rogers Towers law firm represented the applicant during the meeting.
“Essentially, this application allows Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church to redevelop the administrative building, the childcare center … and the faith formation building,” Avery-Smith said, noting that additional entitlement capacity was requested “in case the sanctuary or other buildings within the campus need to be enlarged or rebuilt in the future, so that the church would not have to go through another PUD modification application.”
Victor Yasbeck, an Our Lady Star of the Sea parishioner involved with project management, said the parish hopes to move quickly once the project receives final county approval.
“The timeline is excruciating because we want to open school, or in this case, Early Learning Center, next August,” Yasbeck said. “Our goal is to start this process extremely fast after the (St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners) meeting if possible and be completed by this time next year, in September.”
The County Commission meeting is set for Sept. 1.