Agenda Item 8B- Selva PreserveCITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION MEETING
COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
AGENDA ITEM: Selva Preserve Parcel
SUBMITTED BY: Blythe Waters, Commissioner, Seat No. 3
REPORT DATE: December 6, 2017
HISTORY: The property referred to as the Selva preserve is a 7.2 acre parcel bordered
by 11th street on the South, Sherman’s Creek on the East, Linkside Drive
on the West and the Atlantic Beach Country Club on the North. This
property has had multiple land use designations during the history of
Atlantic Beach and has had a relatively complex recent history in terms of
land use designation. Since 1990 it has been designated Residential Low
Density on the City’s Future Land Use map. In 2003, it was administratively
resigned from Open Rural (OR) to Conservation as a result of the City
eliminating the Open Rural zoning district and converting all Open Rural
zoned properties to Conservation. In May of 2008 it was redesignated from
Conservation to Residential, Single Family (RS-1) for the development of
up to 16 single family homes. Then in September of 2009, this property was
combined with another formerly approved development (Selva Marina
Country Club PUD) through a joint venture to create a newly designed 114
unit development. That project was never constructed. Then in 2013, a new
development team came forward to develop the Selva Marina Country Club
parcel. The Selva Preserve parcel was not included in that project and the
owners of the Selva Preserve subsequently had the property redesignated
back to Residential, Single Family (RS-1). (This History summary was first
included in the Staff Report for Agenda Item 4B Case No 16-REZ-1065
dated April, 2016).
CURRENT STATUS: The owners of the Selva Preserve have recently requested a plat for the
development of 11 single family homes. Citizens have voiced a variety of
concerns regarding the development of this parcel: wetlands impacts,
stormwater impacts, visual impacts, density issues such as increased traffic
on Seminole Road etc. The current developers have submitted a plat for 11
homes that meets the requirements of the St. John’s Water Management
District and has no net loss of wetlands as calculated by the Water
Management District. The current owners of the property are in part
Atlantic Beach Residents.
FOR COMMISSION
CONSIDERATION: 1. The developers have emailed their approval in writing for the City of
Atlantic Beach to proceed with performing an appraisal of the
property for "highest and best use."
Agenda Item 8B
December 11, 2017
2. The developers are "agreeable to enter into serious talks"
about selling a portion of the property to the City of Atlantic Beach.
3. Attached is an aerial of the Selva Preserve property from the
developer's St. Johns River Water Management District permit
application. Under one acquisition scenario, a majority of the
property would be acquired for conservation/parkland and 5 lots would
be retained to build 5 single-family houses. If you look at the attached
image, lots numbered 8,9,10,11, and 12 would be retained by the
developer and the road directly in front of these 5 properties at the end
of the cul de sac located on Linkside Drive would be retained by the
developer (they would no longer build a road through the rest of the
property). The remainder of the property would be placed into a
conservation easement or designated parkland if the city is able to reach
an agreement to purchase this portion of the property. Under this
scenario, the total cost of purchasing this conservation/parkland area
will be less than $1.5 million.
4. In order for the City of Atlantic Beach to consider moving forward with
the potential purchase of some or all of this property for
conservation/parkland, the first step would be for the City to order two
appraisals. The appraisers would meet with both city staff and the Selva
Preserve developers to gather information and appraise the property
based on the highest and best use along with other information (such
as the potential costs for housing development) that would prove
helpful to the City Commission in making a decision on whether to
purchase this property.
RECOMMENDATION: At this time the commission must decide if this is a purchase that they
are interested in exploring. The first phase of that exploration would
be directing the City Manager and staff to get two appraisals of the
Selva Preserve Property.
ATTACHMENT(S): Map of Selva Preserve - Conservation Area Overview
Agenda Item 8B
December 11, 2017