about my county st johns county florida

At the July 9 Candidate Forum, Commissioner Whitehurst made a couple statements that drove home (at least to me) the concept that the commissioner’s role is so much more than spending two days a month on the dais listening to residents. 

He spoke of his voting record, not in terms of percentage approved or denied, but as a strategy for the county’s future.  And he talked about his work on the Northeast Florida Regional Council.  Those two statements deserve some contextual explanation, so I spoke with the Commissioner to get some additional information.

I’ll address the development strategy that I heard Commissioner Whitehurst articulate now and will focus on the broader work of a commissioner in a later post.

Commissioner Voting Records

Much has been communicated about the three incumbent candidate voting records, typically expressed as a percentage of total votes with a strong inference that commissioners approve virtually everything, leading to the “paving over” of our beautiful county.  This infers to residents that development is bad.  All development.  And it needs to be slowed so that the infrastructure can catch up.

But is that the case?  I have written about voting records before and how statistics can be used to prove virtually any point, if you spin them the right way.

Development is not bad or good and the inference of “development=bad” is unfortunate.  Our county needs development to provide jobs, housing, tax revenue and resources for residents.

Commissioner Whitehurst spoke to his strategy for reviewing development projects as not being “for or against” anything, but instead reviewing proposals that come before the BoCC objectively and fairly to all parties involved. For him, the rural farmland in the county deserves to be preserved, and, over the course of his four years in office, he, along with other commissioners, have denied development along 207 west of I-95.

Commissioners talk often about their two-prong test for infrastructure and compatibility in their decision making.  It struck me as I spoke with Commissioner Whitehurst that there may be another subtle consideration – what part of the county is the right place for specific development.

Three brief stories that speak to this concept. 

A developer proposed a large industrial warehouse near the farmland off 207 and west of I-95.  During the BoCC meeting where this item was heard, it became evident that it might not be approved due to incompatibility with the rural farmland.  Rather than simply deny and then say, “Bye Bye,” the BoCC worked with the company to find a spot that was more appropriate for a large industrial warehouse.

Off Watson Road, a developer proposed a residential development of 6-7 units per acre.  Residents spoke out against such a dense development, and the BoCC agreed.  As originally proposed, the development would have been denied, but the developer listened to the challenges and reworked their proposal to the point where it was supported not just by the BoCC but by the residents.

Farther north, residents were saying that they would like to not have to travel to Jacksonville for medical services. Those comments set up a strategic concept of where best to center medical services within the county.

The impact of BoCC Decisions

Decisions made by the Board of County Commissioners form a precedent for future development, sending a signal to developers that they should carefully select locations if they want their development to be approved.

Alienating developers is not a smart move on the part of the BoCC.  They (and we) need what developers bring to the county – homes, jobs, shopping, services, and the tax base.  While it is true that the strict property rights of the state of Florida must be considered, I came away from speaking with Commissioner Whitehurst sensing that, as important as property rights are, it is equally important to consider what the county needs to thrive and grow into the future.

Stay tuned for a future post related to the breadth and scope of a County Commissioner’s role and responsibilities.