St. Joseph Academy annexed; commission approves land‑use and rezoning ordinances, advances PUD super‑majority change

The City Commission of St. Augustine voted unanimously Tuesday to annex roughly 39.8 acres that include the St. Joseph Academy campus into the city and to adopt matching future‑land‑use and rezoning changes for the property.

The annexation (Ordinance 2024‑01), the future‑land‑use amendment from St. Johns County Residential D to the city’s institutional category (Ordinance 2024‑02), and the rezoning from St. Johns County RS‑3/OR to the city’s Open Land (OL) zoning (Ordinance 2024‑03) all passed on second reading after the city’s planning director summarized the staff recommendation and the Planning & Zoning Board’s earlier action.

Why it matters: The city manager and staff said the move is intended to regularize municipal services and liability for campus security and to align public‑safety coverage with other locally served schools. The property is tax‑exempt as a church‑owned school and will remain so, but the commission and staff said the annexation removes legal awkwardness that existed when city police provided security outside the city limits.

Planning staff…