By 3-2 vote, St. Johns County Commissioners refused to allow discussion of a public housing agency. Bad call. Thanks to Commissioners Isaac Henry Dean and Chair Sarah Arnold for voting "yes" to a PHA, which 64 of 67 Florida counties have. No thanks to those who voted no: putative reformer, Republican Commissioner Krista Joseph (influenced by her husband's tawdry testimony), and rebarbative Commissioners ROY ALYRE ALAIMO, JR. (appointed by bigoted Boy Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS) and uneducated Commissioner CHRISTIAN (sic) WHITEHURST, who as Chair torched a PHA? Why? Ipse dixit, he can't fix it: because low-income people receive 65% of HUD Section 8 Housing vouchers.
Prediction: County burghers will attempt to pass this proposal now, with affected urgency and obsequiousness. Why? ROGERS TOWERS corporate law firm and its clients expect St. Johns County Commissioners to be their short order cooks. Are some greedy corporations in a hurry and a frazzle? Are they looking at the clock and the calendar? Are they anxious to get more of their real estate deals blessed by our compliant local governments NOW? (Before the gerrymandered, closed Republican primary election on August 20, 2024, when two or three of our current compliant Commissioners may be booted off Commission? In the immortal words of the late New Orleans Parish District Attorney, Jim Garrison, "What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?!"
From First Coast News (a spinoff of GANNETT, whose Godawful mismanagement of the St. Augustine. Record is a stench in the nostrils of journalism: :
St. Johns County's largest workforce housing project gets initial approval
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — What would be the largest workforce housing project to date in St. Johns County just cleared a major hurdle Thursday.
The proposed neighborhood, called Osceola Lakes, received the approval from the county's Planning and Zoning Board, even though dozens of people asked the board not to approve it yesterday.
Many people who live near the suggested project say that workforce housing is desperately needed, but Osceola Lakes isn’t the answer.
"This has been my view for 26 years, which as you can see," Nancy Rawson said. "It’s pretty nice." She pointed to her backyard which faces the woods. Those woods are not her property, but she has enjoyed the shade, wildlife, and quiet it provides.
That wooded land extends for one mile from Wildwood Drive to Watson Road. The owner wants to turn it into a workforce housing neighborhood that would include 640 homes on 145 acres. Single-family houses, townhouses, and duplexes are in the plans.
But many, such as Rawson, believe it's too many homes for the size of the land. "The density is too much."
Dianne Christensen lives in the Coronado neighborhood on Wildwood Drive. She said, "It'll be way too crowded." Among her concerns are "the infrastructure, the water, the traffic, the schools." She said while some area schools are not full now, she is concerned there additional 640 homes would make the schools over-capacity.
The project would create a road that connects then western end of Watson Road to Wildwood Drive.
Many neighbors fear those two two-lane roads would not be able to handle the expected additional traffic.
The Coronado neighborhood owns a ditch with a small creek in it. The ditch has a significant erosion issue the residents are trying to solve. Folks there say the proposed neighborhood’s stormwater would run into their ditch.
Kathy Frederick lives in the Coronado neighborhood. She said, "We will be receiving more (water) at a faster pace" if that neighborhood is built.
The land for the proposed neighborhood is zoned residential. The owner of that land wants to rezone to "workforce housing". The designation allows more homes to be built per acre.
The project would create a road that connects then western end of Watson Road to Wildwood Drive.
Many neighbors fear those two two-lane roads would not be able to handle the expected additional traffic.
The Coronado neighborhood owns a ditch with a small creek in it. The ditch has a significant erosion issue the residents are trying to solve. Folks there say the proposed neighborhood’s stormwater would run into their ditch.
Kathy Frederick lives in the Coronado neighborhood. She said, "We will be receiving more (water) at a faster pace" if that neighborhood is built.
The land for the proposed neighborhood is zoned residential. The owner of that land wants to rezone to "workforce housing". The designation allows more homes to be built per acre.
2 comments:
Where else are low wage slaves supposed to live? They rub Republican feet for peanuts and housing too expensive. Still rent will probably be $2000 a month so some Republican will be able to take their 4 vacations a year overseas and eat caviar once a month.
It's funny SJC GOP keeps endorsing Gerry James for office. Seems they could do better than that but I guess all the competent and valuable Republicans are either part of the right wing police state or out making a fortune...so they go with the snake oil salesmen (minister.)
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