Sleiman Enterprises is scheduled to hold its second hearing requesting the zoning designation of an area of land along State Road A1A to be changed during the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners’ Oct. 19 meeting.
The re-zoning request was already brought forth and turned down by the Ponte Vedra Zoning and Adjustment Board during its Sept. 13 gathering.
Sleiman has proposed changing the zoning of about 4.3 acres of land from its status as “single family residential” to “planned unit development.”
The change would allow Sleiman to go forward with its plan to build mixed-use development, which would include a hotel and commercial/office use.
“This is one of Sleiman’s legacy land holdings that we’ve owned for roughly 15 years,” Sleiman chief operating officer Michael McNaughton said. “This site was accepted in concert with an adjacent site many years ago in a now-dissolved partnership.”
That adjacent site was recently denied recommendation by the Ponte Vedra Zoning and Adjustment Board but wound up being approved by the Commission for the construction of a self-storage facility.
The zoning and adjustment board stated with the size of the project and the negative predicted impact it would have on the two closest residential areas and traffic as the top reasons for the decision to deny the latest request.
Board member Richard Ensslen stated that he did not believe State Road A1A had the capacity to handle the increased traffic load brought about by adding additional retail units to that area.
Fellow board member Jane Rollinson brought up similar points, and they were the same reasons the board was against the self-storage facility being approved.
“The biggest picture seems to be that if we keep allowing these PUDs, I think FDOT really needs to come up with a more strategic plan,” Ensslen said.
The area of land in question is located on the southwestern side of A1A North and Marsh Landing Parkway and sits about 200 feet south of the Duval County line.
It is undeveloped land with a multi-family apartment complex located directly to the west and a commercial office complex is developed on the property to the south.
Sleiman’s master plan consists of the proposed complex being for commercial use only with no intended residential elements.
The proposed plan includes two buildings with one being designated for retail/office space and the other being a hotel.
If the project was to be approved, it would need to follow the rules in place as specified within the Ponte Vedra Zoning District regulations.
According to McNaughton, Sleiman also owns the shopping center to the north, in what is considered Jacksonville Beach, that includes stores such as Target, Publix and Turner Ace Hardware.
He projected roughly $614,000 in impact fees will go to the county government and more than $200,000 in school district capital.
The zoning and adjustment board has made its recommendation of denial, and now it is up to the Commission to take that into consideration and decide what direction is best.
