Jacksonville-based Seda Construction Co. is seeking a rezoning that would replace portions of its long-approved Sandy Creek residential development with Sandy Lake to include 81 residential lots and a marina as part of roughly 100 acres of recreational space, along with expanded reserve areas.
Sandy Creek is an established residential community governed by a Planned Unit Development originally approved in 2003 and amended several times since. Portions of the PUD have been built-out through multiple phases, while other approved areas remain undeveloped but would be affected if the rezoning is approved. The community is just south of County Road 210 and east of Interstate 95 in northern St. Johns County.
St. Johns County began reviewing the Sandy Lake Planned Rural Development rezoning request June 30. According to St. Johns County, Planned Rural Development zoning allows for cluster-style residential development in rural or agricultural areas while preserving large portions of a property as reserve area.
Sandy Creek Preservation Corp., an entity associated with Seda Construction Co., submitted the application. The company owns two parcels totaling approximately 504 acres, according to the St. Johns County Property Appraiser: a 376-acre parcel and a 128-acre parcel, both currently classified under a recreational, parkland and conservation use code. Not all of that property is slated for development under the application, which covers approximately 411.58 acres, according to the application’s site data table.
The application proposes 81 single-family estate homes on 1-acre lots within approximately 41 acres of development area, setting aside about 370 acres as reserve space and creating a lower-density residential pattern than the previous plan.
Jacksonville-based Adkinson Engineering is the project’s civil engineer.
The proposal includes common reserve areas for future conservation easements and a marina, part of approximately 100 acres of recreational space across the development. That exceeds the project’s required recreation allocation under current code, which requires none, according to the application. About 32 acres would be added from the existing PUD, changing from Mixed Use to Rural/Silviculture as part of the proposed PRD.
The rezoning would modify the existing Sandy Creek PUD, approved through Ordinance 2003-7 and later amended through Ordinances 2007-27, 2017-11 and 2024-2.
According to the application, the revised plan would remove 298 approved multifamily units and 34 approved single-family units while adding 81 estate homes, resulting in a net reduction of 251 residential units. Those units represent existing, unbuilt entitlements under the current PUD. The two parcels have not been developed for residential use and are classified by the county property appraiser under recreational, parkland and conservation-related uses.
The applicant said the change would reduce traffic, school demands and public facility needs, which could reduce potential impact fees associated with new development.
Impact fees are one-time charges assessed on new residential and commercial construction at the time of permitting. Under Florida law, the fees can only be used to fund new infrastructure capacity required to accommodate growth including roads, parks, water, wastewater and police and fire service and cannot be used to address existing infrastructure deficits or repay existing debt. Local governments must demonstrate that the fees charged are proportionate to the infrastructure burden a given development creates.
By reducing the unit count from 332 previously approved residential units to 81, the revised plan would substantially lower the project’s future impact fee obligations, although the application did not name impact fees specifically as a motivating factor.
The entire Sandy Creek property contains approximately 243 acres of wetlands and 152 acres of uplands, according to the application.
Sandy Creek Preservation Corp. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The rezoning request will go through county staff review before consideration by the St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency and County Commission. The Board of County Commissioners will have the final authority on the request.