The St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners took up a wide range of issues at its June 16 meeting, including a proposed one-year pause on new data centers, several contested rezoning requests, and budget presentations from two constitutional officers. The board also heard public comment on traffic safety, drainage, and a request to display American flags for the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Consent Agenda: Water Line Agreement
Before approving the consent agenda, commissioners heard from residents of a homeowners association not connected to the county water system who asked the board to waive an administrative fee tied to a planned interconnection with the county’s water system. County Utility Director Neil Anderson’s staff explained the connection would let the county draw emergency water from the community’s wells and vice versa, but said waiving the roughly 16-cent-per-account administrative fee would effectively require the utility department to subsidize the project. The item was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion, and the board approved the agenda with that item, Item 13, removed for separate consideration; a commissioner confirmed there is no current plan for the county to take over the private utility.
Public Comment
Several residents raised concerns during general public comment. Two speakers, representing more than 200 petitioning residents near U.S. 1, objected to a Florida Department of Transportation median redesign they said would force dangerous U-turns and worsen congestion near the county government complex; they asked the board to send a formal objection to FDOT and demand a public hearing before the project proceeds. Another resident showed photos of drainage problems she said had gone unaddressed for years after a ditch near her property was replaced with a smaller pipe.
A resident asked the board about establishing a parks trust fund residents could donate to directly, citing similar funds in neighboring Duval County. Another resident requested permission to display roughly 120 American flags on utility poles along a 7-mile stretch of County Road 13 ahead of the Fourth of July; commissioners directed staff to coordinate with her on a safe placement plan. A speaker also raised concerns that funding for previously approved parks projects appeared to be on hold. Two other speakers urged support for a November property tax reform ballot measure.
Constitutional Officer Budgets
Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Brandon Patty presented his office’s fiscal year 2027 budget request, citing rapid growth in service demand — including the number of judges in the county nearly doubling in six years — while court-related filing fees remain capped at 2008 levels under state law. Patty requested a combined 13% increase for his general office budget and a $900,000 increase for a court subsidy budget the county has provided in past years to offset a statewide funding gap. He said the office has returned $300,000 to $1.5 million in unspent funds to the county in recent years and noted the state recently passed narrower legislation updating some court fees, which is expected to bring the county roughly $80,000 in the coming fiscal year.
Supervisor of Elections Vicki Oakes presented her office’s budget and provided an election update. She said the county now has 42 Election Day polling places, one fewer than in 2024 despite continued population growth, after consolidating smaller precincts. Oakes said 112 candidates qualified for this year’s elections following the close of qualifying, and that both county commission races will be decided in the August primary under a “universal primary” rule, since only Republican candidates qualified, meaning all registered voters, regardless of party, will be eligible to vote in those two races. She requested a roughly 7.5% budget increase, driven largely by rising postage costs and expanded early voting requirements for this year’s general election, and updated the board on a planned office expansion to accommodate growth in registered voters, which has more than doubled since 2008.
Rezoning Cases
The board held public hearings on five rezoning and development requests:
- 3025 Old Moultrie Road was rezoned from Open Rural to a residential designation to allow two single-family homes, aligning it with neighboring properties. Approved 5-0.
- Ashford Mills PUD (Sheer Water) received a major modification allowing improved connectivity between two commercially zoned parcels near a preschool, along with reduced buffer requirements between the two commercial sites. A traffic engineer testified that the added connection was projected to reduce, not increase, turning traffic at the area’s main intersection. Approved 5-0.
- Golfway Centre PUD, near International Golf Parkway and I-95, was approved to remove decades-old acreage restrictions and eliminate a requirement to preserve an isolated, largely dry wetland, in exchange for the applicant paying roughly $392,000 into a state-approved wetland mitigation bank. Applicants said they are in discussions with a major grocer, hospitality group, and restaurant for the site. Approved 3-2.
- 177 Surfside Avenue in Vilano Beach was rezoned from commercial to residential to allow three single-family homes. The hearing drew significant debate over the property’s historic Sinclair Lewis House, which some speakers said should be preserved or relocated rather than potentially altered. The applicant’s attorney said the rezoning itself does not authorize demolition and that any changes to the structure would still require review under the county’s 14-page cultural resource preservation code. Approved 4-1.
- SR 16 Commercial, an 8-acre site near I-95, was rezoned from Open Rural to Commercial Intensive over the objection of nearby residents who cited traffic, drainage, and the number of existing convenience stores in the area. The applicant said the rezoning would include a new connection between Green Acres Road and Harvest Lane intended to give neighboring residents safer access to a traffic signal. Approved 4-1.
Data Center Moratorium
During commissioner reports, Commissioner Krista Joseph Taylor cited data center moratoriums recently enacted or under consideration in neighboring Nassau and Walton counties and proposed a similar one-year pause on new data center applications in St. Johns County, citing concerns about strain on the electric grid, water resources, and limited permanent job creation. Commissioner Whitehurst said he did not oppose the concept but noted the county has not yet completed a staff analysis of data centers’ environmental and economic impacts, and said he was unaware of any data center currently proposed in the county. The county attorney’s office advised that a moratorium cannot be enacted immediately since it was not on the day’s published agenda and must go through a public hearing process, and noted potential conflicts with a state law, Senate Bill 180, that restricts certain local construction moratoriums. The board reached consensus directing the county attorney’s office to bring back a formal moratorium proposal for a future public hearing.
Other Commissioner Business
Commissioner Whitehurst asked for, and received, board consensus to send a letter of support for the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s effort to bring a national convention to Northeast Florida. Commissioners also reached consensus to give county employees Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday off around the Fourth of July in recognition of the nation’s 250th anniversary, mirroring a similar decision by the governor for state employees, with staff to determine how the additional time off would apply to shift-based employees such as firefighters.
The board went into a closed attorney-client session during the meeting to discuss a pending lawsuit.
