No mention that this company is controlled by the family of former Jacksonville Mayor JOHN STEPHENS PEYTON and his father, HERBERT HILL PEYTON. Wonder why? This land would make a suitable portion of the St. Augustine National Historical Park and National Seashore. We encourage the PEYTONS to do something for our community, instead of suing our leaders and screwing up our environment with ugly tract homes.
Gate company sues St. Johns County for answer on rezoning
Posted: September 12, 2016 - 10:51pm | Updated: September 13, 2016 - 7:00am
By Steve Patterson
steve.patterson@jacksonville.com
An arm of Gate Petroleum sued St. Johns County on Monday to get rezoning approval for Ponte Vedra Beach land where, it argued, neighbors’ complaints have stalled decisions indefinitely.
Ponte Vedra Corp. only applied in July to rezone the 99 acres on Neck Road called the Outpost, but Gate Petroleum Vice President Ken Wilson said county planners never answered related requests the company made in 2013 and 2014.
“This was sort of a last resort to us,” Wilson said.
The suit, filed in state court in St. Augustine, asks a judge to order the county to process the rezoning application it filed for a development called Vista Tranquila, on a tract bordered on three sides by the by the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. The suit claims county officials’ “refusal to process and/or delay and/or stonewalling” of its rezoning application are violating the company’s rights without any chance for appeal.
Land north of the Outpost is a residential neighborhood connecting to Mickler Road. The suit argues county zoning rules entitle Ponte Vedra Corp. to have the same zoning and asks the judge to tell the county so. County land-use plans label the property as conservation land, but the suit says county rules still allow development in some areas.
Wilson said county rules indicate there should have been some response by late July — two weeks after the company filed plans for a 77-home development.
County employees are still working through parts of the rezoning application, county spokesman Michael Ryan said.
“The PUD application filed this summer is currently under review and the county will continue to process the request accordingly,” Ryan said by email.
He said county officials were also still studying the 80-page lawsuit and hadn’t thought through responses to its arguments yet.
Plans for the property have attracted mounting interest from neighbors and environmentalists, with members of Florida Audubon and the Sierra Club’s Northeast Florida group backing calls to avoid developing the site.
Wilson said Gate, which bought the land in 1983, tried to find government agencies interested in buying the site for conservation and got Guana’s superintendent to tour the site. But Wilson said the only agreement to buy the site came from Dream Finders-Custom Home Division, the developer now seeking to build homes.
A critic of the development plan was quick to defend county officials.
“I’m very glad the county is being extremely thorough about this and they’re not rushing into making a speedy decision about such an important issue,” said Nicole Crosby, who has organized Neck Road residents and others concerned about the development.
COMMENTS
mach12.1e 09/13/16 - 09:19 am 50They can choke on the lawsuit.
Save something!
ANTHONYSER 09/13/16 - 03:13 pm 02Gate
Gate can build there now like the homes with the setback there
sponger2 09/13/16 - 06:51 pm 40Screw Gate
That's what we have paid attorneys for. Put them to work defending us for a change.
Firstcoaster 09/13/16 - 09:01 pm 41This scandal
could be called "Gategate."
ANTHONYSER 09/14/16 - 04:45 pm 03Gate
That land is 4000 ft on the river They will put 2 homes on a acre
That is 150 homes that will sell for $1,000,000 each. Pro ball players will buy them. Look at the tax it will bring in for the county
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