Lightsey Rd. project fails by 4-1 vote

Resident: proposal was too dense, intense; but is the battle over?

PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Published Wednesday, May 14, 2008

St. Johns County commissioners Tuesday in a 4-1 vote denied a rezoning application for the Lightsey Road Apartments, a proposed 264-unit residential complex with attached retail on 25 acres at Lightsey Road and State Road 207.

The final vote ended -- at least temporarily -- a long, expensive battle by property owner Harry Waldron of St. Augustine, who had appeared before the commission six times since he filed the initial rezoning request in February 2007.

Nearby neighbors had complained that the project was incompatible with the rural area. The 11 apartment buildings planned for the wedge-shaped site would loom over their homes, and traffic would clog the S.R. 207-Lightsey Road intersection, they said.

Shirley Ann Davis, a 19-year resident of Lightsey Road, said the project was too dense and intense for the area, would be an eyesore and overtax substandard Lightsey Road.

Waldron's attorneys, Douglas Burnett of Rogers, Towers, and George McClure of McClure, Bloodworth, declined to comment immediately after the vote.

But later Burnett said, "We think it's unfortunate that the majority of the commission would decide not to follow its own land development codes or Comprehensive Plan and deny the application again with no new competent and substantial evidence."

He said the development team hadn't yet decided what its reaction would be but said the case "will be brought back to the (Circuit) Court's attention."

After the application's initial denial by the County Commission in 2007, the developers sued and received a judgment sending the case back to the County Commission for re-evaluation, saying that its initial denial didn't show "competent and substantial" evidence to warrant the denial.

On Tuesday, McClure argued that, since that time, the commission had heard nothing new.

"The arguments and facts remain exactly the same," he said. "This has been a bizarre process. You can represent truthfully to your constituents that your hands are (legally) tied."

County Attorney Patrick McCormack told the commission that the court's decision didn't direct them to make any specific decision.

"(You) should not have an expectation that you'll make a decision and have it come back again and again," he said.

Burnett offered compromises, such as promising not to allow a liquor store in the retail area, designing a mass transit stop on S.R. 207 and redesigning traffic flow for safety and traffic control reasons.

Vice Chairwoman Cyndi Stevenson said she was uncomfortable with the minimal buffering surrounding the project.

"It's too dense. I think (the lack of buffering) will have a negative impact on these property owners."

Chairman Tom Manuel agreed. "This is a minimum buffer with maximum density."

McCormack told the board that this would be a difficult decision for them.

Some commissioners discussed that, in a mixed-use district, the highest land use must be at the center of the property, not at the edge of the property, like this one. They also pointed out that 70 percent of a mixed-use project should be commercial.

Rich moved to deny. All board members voted yes except Commissioner Jim Bryant, who was the lone dissenting vote.

Davis said, "I'm pleased the commission took the time to do extensive research of all the concerns of the citizens."

Burnett said people don't know that Waldron had previously committed to $1.3 million in roadway improvements if the application were approved.

"The application meets all technical requirements," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen until we know what we're going to do."



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