County Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker speaks at Ponte Vedra Beaches Coalition meeting

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Recently sworn-in St. Johns County District 4 Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker addressed the Ponte Vedra Beaches Coalition at its December meeting on Monday, Dec. 3, discussing a few of the key issues he plans on targeting while serving in office. 

Specifically, Blocker said he would like to focus on only allowing development that is positive for the county and solving the infrastructure issues that he believes will benefit the community in both the present and future. 

This includes his support of a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) to support beach renourishment, and allocating tourism money back into Ponte Vedra.

“We are one of the few counties, one of two counties in the state, that does not have an active beach renourishment program,” he said at the meeting held at the Palm Valley Community Center. “That puts the entire county in danger and it affects all of us. I want my kids — that’s why I’m doing this — I want my kids to have a beach they’re going to enjoy and experience.”

The MSTU is a special taxing unit for addressing funding issues such as beach erosion along the county’s northern coast. Blocker said he wants the MSTU to help in providing a coastal engineer as part of a beach management staff. 

Another important issue Blocker wants to focus on is allocating tourism money back into the community. 

“One thing that is not on the agenda is that we need to look at how our tourism dollars are being used,” Blocker said. “Right now, a tremendous amount of dollars are going to St. Augustine. That’s great. I love the Alligator Farm and I love St. Augustine. But many of the dollars that we pay here in Ponte Vedra end up going to some beach renourishment projects in St. Augustine and other parts of the county. 

“So, I want to look at bringing those dollars back here,” Blocker continued. “Many counties do this — Volusia and Flagler County does this — the dollars that are spent in those areas come back to that area. If we were able to do that, that would bring several million dollars back that we could use for beautification projects.”

Blocker said that although he recognizes the need for green space and beautification projects, he is “well aware” of the challenge of growing developments and traffic issues. He said infrastructure growth is an issue he wants to make sure is addressed, namely, by reevaluating the comprehensive land use plan.

“If we are amending (the land use plan) every couple of months, that’s not exactly the best option going forward,” he said. “That’s our future land use map. Because what I think has happened is that we’ve grown at such a tremendous rate that our infrastructure has not kept up with that.”

Blocker maintains that his main focus is on preserving the area for future generations by taking into consideration both environmental concerns, such as rising sea levels, and population expansion issues. 

“We need to look at how we are growing, where we are growing and how we are going to manage that,” he said