FRUIT COVE, Fla. — UPDATE 9/8: 11:50 a.m.- Matthew Marshall, vice president of development for RISE Real Estate, told Action News Jax that the meeting has been cancelled due to capacity issues at the location. He said the company is evaluating the next steps and will provide updates soon.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A quiet St. Johns County neighborhood is speaking up over a proposed development. Signs line Fruit Cove Road showing opposition to re-zoning more than 30 acres that could be turned into hundreds of apartment units and townhomes.
“This isn’t a concrete jungle. We like our trees, we like our brush, we like our green grasses,” said Kim Williams. She grew up in Fruit Cove and lives directly across from the proposed development site. “People move out here because of that. Now the developers are trying to come in and destroy everything.”
The site plans show four-story apartment buildings, townhomes, and amenities. Neighbors are concerned about the traffic on their two-lane road along with the extra students it would bring to an already overwhelmed school district.
“We really would like to tell [the developer] we don’t want this area rezoned and that’s it,” Dawn Hutchins, a neighbor, said.
The draft plans are by a developer, RISE, which owns RISE Julington across the creek. The developer planned a community meeting for neighbors on Sept. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Fruit Cove Middle School.
In an emailed statement, the VP of Development said it’s just a draft at this point.
“RISE has no permanent plans nor has submitted any development applications to the county. This neighborhood meeting is a pre-planning meeting only to obtain feedback from the community. Typically, this meeting would occur after submitting our development applications; however, hearing from the community is more important at this point in the process.”
Matthew Marshall further explained they will not be making any design presentations at the meeting, but rather are there to listen to concerns.
“We’ve also been completing our technical due diligence regarding the land and its ability to be developed. We’re hopeful the meeting is informative to both the community and to RISE.”
The area is zoned for ‘open rural’, which means single-family homes on one-acre lots. It would have to be re-zoned for a higher density. Commissioner Christian Whitehurst, who represents the area, said he’s received more than 100 emails from concerned neighbors. He’s meeting with some on Wednesday and plans to be at the Sept. 14th meeting.
The neighborhood has set up a change petition with more than 2,800 signatures. The petition can be found HERE.
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