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Clay County leaders share questions, concerns on 4,000-home community proposal

By Finn Carlin, Action News Jax
By Finn Carlin, Action News Jax

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday, the Clay County Board of Commissioners and Planning Commission met to hear from the developer of a 4,000-home neighborhood being proposed a few miles south of Green Cove Springs.

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The community is called the Agricola Property, which would sprawl for 3,145 acres between Clay and Putnam counties. Right now, only around 630 homes could be built on the property with how it’s zoned, about 3,400 fewer than what the developer is trying to put up.

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“We’re basically the next St. Johns County,” Jennifer Gregory, a Fleming Island-based realtor working for Coldwell Banker, said. Gregory’s been studying the Agricola Property for weeks.

“It’s different than anything else you’re going to see in Clay County,” Gregory said.

RELATED: This Week in the 904: Clay County Commissioner Betsy Condon discusses managing rapid county growth

Part of that reason – the developer’s promising 50-60% of the 3,100+ acre property to go untouched. The 30-year plan for the community says that land would be used as ‘open space.’

The Agricola Property, if approved, would be split into a mix of various home types:

  • 2,170 single-family homes
  • 370 townhomes
  • 1,460 multi-family units

During today’s meeting, the team presenting the proposal to county leaders said there are three school sites also planned for the community. The developer, in the application, says the team has been collaborating with the Clay County School District to see at least one of those schools get off the ground. The developer said, during the meeting, it would likely be an elementary or middle school.

But despite all of the intentions, Gregory says a lot can change in 30 years.

RELATED: Clay County neighbors frustrated over neighborhood proposal

“These plans started so long ago and yet they’re still so far out, there’s so many unanswered questions,” Gregory said.

With plans to build the community over three decades, county leaders today shared concerns about the promise to keep half the property as ‘open space’ not being kept. Clay County property records show the developer already owns the land its asking to build the Agricola Property on.

“They can build as many or as few homes as they want,” Gregory said.

But if it’s used the way it’s presented, Gregory says the Agricola Property could become a lot more than a neighborhood for the county.

READ: More fire stations coming to Clay County as population increases

“This may totally change how builders build here in Clay County,” Gregory said.

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The county planning commission will have a final hearing on the Agricola Property on April 2nd. If it passes there, it heads to the board of county commissioners on April 9.

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The 30-year plan for the community says that land would be used as ‘open space.’

Renderings The 30-year plan for the community says that land would be used as ‘open space.’ (Agricola Property)

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