ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Johns County is the most expensive place to buy a home on the First Coast right now.
The county government is trying to combat that, approving some neighborhoods that will have less expensive homes, called workforce housing neighborhoods.
Earlier this month, the plan for 24 acres of undeveloped land on Lewis Speedway near Woodlawn Road went before the St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency, again.
The developer wants to build a neighborhood with a workforce housing designation there. That means 30 percent of the new houses built would sell for less than the market value and for no more than $260,000.
Last year, a different neighborhood was proposed for this same plot of land. For the people who live near the site, the added traffic the new neighborhood could bring was a chief concern. Ultimately the county commission shot that project down.
This year, there comes a proposal for another neighborhood on the same location. But with more homes than the one before. This time 110 houses.
During the Planning and Zoning Agency on December 21s, board member Richard Hilsenbeck said, "If 92 homes were not compatible, how are 110 homes compatible? And I understand because it’s the workforce housing component."
With a workforce housing designation, the county gives developers a break in order to encourage developers to construct homes that will sell for less. With a workforce housing overlay, developers can build more houses per acre compared to the standard county rule.
But another county rule surprised Judy Spiegel who sits on the Planning and Zoning Agency
"It just jumped out at me," she told First Coast News.
She said that the rule states a house which is built as a workforce housing home, has a two-year deed restriction regarding it's price. Spiegel understands it to mean that after two years, it no longer needs to stay at a workforce housing price, and it can be sold for market value.
“To me, it seems like there needs to be more permanence,” Spiegel said.
Bill Lazar, with St. Johns Housing Partnership, works to help get people into homes they can afford. He said, the minimum of two years is low.
“I wish is was higher,” Lazar said. “To say we’re only going to keep it to benefit our workforce for two years. It’s a really short period of time.”
Spiegel wondered if St. Johns County could increase the workforce housing deeds for more like 5- 10 years.
“It seems like something that needs to be looked at and maybe a change made,” she said, “maybe for the benefit of the county.”