The fight over thousands of acres of farmland north of Nocatee is headed to court.
The PARC Group, the developer behind Nocatee, filed a petition Monday asking Florida's 7th Judicial Circuit Court to review the St. Johns County Commission's denial of its North Palm Valley agricultural enclave certification application, First Coast News reported. The application covers 4,462 acres near Nocatee.
What's at stake
Under Florida's new agricultural enclave law, a property that wins the designation could be developed at up to six homes per acre, according to First Coast News. On this land, that would equal nearly 27,000 homes. The PARC Group told the county commission it would build one home per acre, or roughly 4,400 homes.
The designation also matters because of who gets a say. An agricultural enclave is farmland surrounded by land zoned for commercial and residential uses, and certification under the law, known as SB 686, would let a developer move ahead without the public hearings typically required for residential development on agricultural land, Jacksonville Today reported.
How the county got here
The commission denied the application on a 3-2 vote on Sept. 15, Jacksonville Today reported. That vote reversed an earlier meeting in which the board failed to approve or deny the proposal. Under the new law, the county's lack of action would have led to an automatic approval.
Commissioner Clay Murphy was the swing vote. By the time the matter came back to the board, he had changed his mind. Commissioners Krista Joseph, Murphy and Ann Taylor voted to deny the application, while Commissioners Sarah Arnold and Christian Whitehurst voted against denial.
The project was proposed by the PARC Group and the Davis family, the family that founded Winn-Dixie, according to Jacksonville Today.
The developer's case
The PARC Group says its application meets the law's requirements.
"We believe the application meets the requirements of state law, consistent with county staff findings, and we are asking the court to review the commission's decision," PARC Group President Chris Pilinko said in a press release quoted by First Coast News. "Certification is only the first step. Any future proposal will be subject to comprehensive review and permitting through St. Johns County and state agencies and must be planned with careful attention to infrastructure and conservation."
The county's case
County commissioners expected the developer to go to court, First Coast News reported, and see the case as a chance to challenge the legality of the agricultural enclave law itself.
Earlier in September, the commission directed its legal team to look into ways to challenge the law, Jacksonville Today reported. Murphy called the law "destructive on so many levels" and said he wanted to see it repealed.
More enclave requests in the pipeline
The North Palm Valley case isn't the only one. St. Johns County has received a number of proposals for residential development on local farmland under the enclave law, according to Jacksonville Today. Some were rejected by county planning staff for not meeting the law's definitions, while others still must go before the commission. On the same day it denied the Nocatee-area request, the board approved a separate enclave project that could lead to more than 300 homes on 310 acres near Six Mile Creek.
Why it matters for contractors
A North Palm Valley project from the same developer, whether at roughly 4,400 homes or more, would mean years of work for site developers, utility contractors, homebuilders and every trade that follows them.
But nothing is close to breaking ground. Even if the PARC Group wins in court, Pilinko himself says certification is only the first step, followed by county and state review and permitting.
The bigger story for builders is the enclave law itself. The court case could help decide how much power counties have to say no to these requests, and that will shape how quickly farmland in St. Johns County and elsewhere in Florida can turn into housing. Homebuilders, land developers and site contractors with projects in the pipeline should watch this case closely.