Since 2006, Hutson Companies has been working on creating the Silverleaf community. When complete, it’s expected to have over 10,000 homes, and part of that plan currently includes land for a high school.
St. John's County school board members will have the next few days to decide if that's the right move before they're expected to take a vote on April 9.
Hutson Companies VP John Metcalf said the company is building a six and a half mile, four-lane road at the company's expense in hopes of limiting traffic and making an easier commute to their proposed site off of 16A.
The road itself is about 75 percent done as crews are continuing to finish up water and sewer lines. Metcalf said he could see cars on that road in about six months.
“The day that opens, that’s going to free up a lot of traffic inside of St. John’s county, traffic that now takes State Road 16 to International Golf Parkway to I-95," Metcalf said.
“The issue that the neighbors have brought up is the traffic that would be created on 16a," said St. John's County School Board Vice Chair Beverly Slugh.
Sllugh told us once again homeowners were concerned over the possibility of increased traffic as a result of the school being built in that location off 16a and the increase it could have to that road.
"The developer won me over when he agreed to pay for a connector road," Sllugh said.
The Vice Chair expects the district superintendent to recommend putting the high school in the development next week, which she also supports. The School Board will have two options: say yes, or move on to another location.
An idea Sllugh doesn't think is realistic given the real-estate.
Last month school board members voted down a similar plan with the school included.
“We’re having a lot of difficulty finding any a and b finding any that are affordable. The prices that we are getting are astronomical sometimes up to a $100,000 an acre.”
“We think it’s better for the school system and probably better for the community if they have a high school site, but we’re going to proceed if they don’t want the high school site, we’ll pay the money and go on," Metcalf said.
St. John’s County school district will receive roughly $98 million as part of the agreement. Part of that money the district could use to find a new location if they chose to go that route.