County Staff Clears 4,462-Acre Davis Tract Next to Nocatee for Fast-Track Housing; One Hearing Left, Aug. 19

St. Johns County staff has determined that the Davis family's 4,462-acre tract between Nocatee's northern boundary and the Intracoastal Waterway qualifies as an "Agricultural Enclave" under Florida's new Senate Bill 686, clearing the way for a development of up to one home per acre on a property roughly 30% the size of Nocatee. The County Commission takes it up at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19, in the County Auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View, and commissioners' review is limited to whether staff applied the law's criteria correctly. If staff did, the county must certify it.

That is the part residents of Palm Valley, Ponte Vedra Beach and Nocatee need to understand before they show up. This is not a rezoning where the board weighs traffic, schools and neighborhood objections and votes its conscience. Under SB 686, a certified enclave has to be treated as a conforming use no matter what the comprehensive plan, future land use map or zoning says, and traffic impacts are not grounds for denial.

The land is owned through BR4700 LLC, tied to the family that founded Winn-Dixie, which has held most of the tract since November 1994, when it paid $9.3 million. The Davis family is pursuing the project with The PARC Group, the developer behind Nocatee, eTown and EverRange. The tract runs from the Duval County line east to the Intracoastal, with waterfront directly across from Roscoe Boulevard.

The application, filed July 1, the day the law took effect, sets a maximum density of one residential unit per gross acre. Applicants say existing or planned development borders 84% of the property's perimeter, above the 75% the statute requires.

Six applications, one morning

The Davis property is the largest of six agricultural enclave applications on the Aug. 19 agenda. Together they cover 6,558 acres across the county, from the Ponte Vedra side to the I-95 corridor south of St. Augustine.

Application	Acres	Where
N Palm Valley Rd	4,462	North of Nocatee to the Intracoastal
Heritage East	615	Near I-95, south of S.R. 207
Heritage West	551	Near I-95, south of S.R. 207
Adler Creek	610	East of Trailmark, World Golf Village area
Star IV Investments	176	North of C.R. 208, west of I-95
Osceola Lakes	144	Between St. Augustine Shores and I-95

The Adler Creek parcel sits next to Picolata Crossing Elementary School. Commissioners denied a development of more than 1,600 homes on that same ground in 2022. Under the new law, that history carries no weight.

The 5-0 vote

Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to direct the County Attorney's Office to bring back two things: an outside consultant's read on whether an injunction against SB 686 is legally viable, and what it would cost. Chair Clay Murphy framed it as figuring out whether the county has standing before spending taxpayer money on a lawsuit, saying the county does need some kind of response. Commissioner Krista Joseph called the law an erosion of home rule and pushed for outside counsel.

Nobody voted no. Nobody filed suit either. The board asked for a price tag first.

The attorney representing the applicant, Ellen Avery Smith, addressed the board to correct the record during that discussion, saying the filed application seeks one unit per acre, not six. The PARC Group has said the enclave designation allows a streamlined review for single-family development consistent with surrounding land uses, and pointed to its record on master-planned communities in Northeast Florida.

Why the clock matters

SB 686 was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 24 and took effect July 1. It gives county staff 30 days to produce a compliance report and the commission 30 days after that to approve or deny certification. If the county does nothing within 90 days of filing, the application is approved automatically. For the Davis tract, that means the board has to act by the end of August or lose the decision by default.

The statute generally caps enclaves at 1,280 acres. A separate category allows applications up to 4,480 acres when the land is substantially surrounded by dense residential development, which is the pathway this 4,462-acre filing uses. Every member of St. Johns County's legislative delegation voted for the bill: Sen. Tom Leek and Reps. Sam Greco, Kim Kendall and Judson Sapp. Several commissioners have said they did not learn of the legislation until April, after it passed.

Certification is not a site plan. It does not lock in road connections, school capacity agreements, conservation set-asides or a single house pad. Those come later, through administrative review rather than the public rezoning hearings residents are used to. Aug. 19 is the meeting where the public still has a microphone. The special meeting starts at 9 a.m. and is broadcast live on the county's website. The county attorney's cost analysis on a possible injunction is expected back at a later board meeting; no date has been set.

We will be covering the Aug. 19 hearing. For more on growth, zoning and county decisions, see our government and politics coverage and our development stories at St. Johns Community Website.

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