St. Johns commissioners debate 2050 Comprehensive Plan redlines; motion to limit changes fails

St. Johns County commissioners spent more than an hour on May 20 debating a draft 2050 Comprehensive Plan update that would revise the county’s long-range growth policies, including proposed ‘‘redline’’ language moving some compatibility and infrastructure rules into the Land Development Code. The board rejected a motion to adopt a narrower version of the plan by a 2–3 vote. Chris Dougherty, the county’s consultant from Inspire Placemaking Collective, presented the draft and told the board the Comprehensive Plan should function as a policy-guiding document rather than a regulatory one and that the Land Development Code should be updated within 12 months after the Comprehensive Plan update. Michael Roberson, the county’s Growth Management director, and Jacob Smith, planning director, described draft changes to the future land use map and new conservation and density provisions. Public comment was extensive and largely critical of several redline moves: residents and speakers said the draft weakens protections for wetlands, agricultural land and local compatibility standards, may increase allowable heights and density, and could shift review standards from the Comprehensive Plan to a less-visible Land Development Code. Speakers who addressed the draft included Denver Cook, Beth Breeding, Tom Ingram, Patrick Hamilton, Jen Lomberk, Greg Smith, John Reagan, Elizabeth Smith, Vicki Pepper, Dwight Miller, Nicole Crosby, Nadine Hughey, Ellen Avery-Smith and others. Concerns raised in public comment included potential increases in density and intensity, the loss of protections for rural and agricultural lands, the removal of language addressing discovery of historic or archaeological artifacts, and how any changes would affect traffic and infrastructure. Dougherty told the board that Florida law requires planning horizons of 10 and 20 years and that a 20-year horizon is typically required for a comprehensive plan; board members debated whether to use a shorter horizon. Commissioner Ann Taylor requested that the board consider asking the governor to veto Senate Bill 180, which some commissioners and speakers said could limit local land-use authority; discussion followed without a formal board action to send a veto letter. Commissioner Krista Joseph made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Ann Taylor, to update the Comprehensive Plan using medium population projections with a 15-year long-range planning horizon to 2040, to keep existing goals and objectives without moving the developer boundary or increasing density, and not to transfer provisions from the Comprehensive Plan into the Land Development Code. That motion failed 2–3, with Joseph and Taylor voting yes and Commissioners Christian Whitehurst, Sarah Arnold and Clay Murphy voting no. County Attorney Rich Komando and Senior Assistant County Attorney Kealey West advised the board on legal options for proceeding, including sending the draft to the Planning and Zoning Agency (PZA) for review, scheduling a workshop, making targeted text amendments, or transmitting only statutory changes to meet statutory deadlines. Dougherty and staff repeated the consultant recommendation that the Plan remain a guiding policy document and that implementing code changes follow within a year. The board did not adopt the draft at the meeting; staff said the PZA would review the item and the board would schedule follow-up workshops and text edits as needed before any formal adoption or transmittal.