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MEMORANDUM
TO: Community Development Board
FROM: Sonya Doerr, AICP ,140
Community Development Director
DATE: March 31, 2008
SUBJECT: Information for Selva Preserve rezoning application
As you may be aware, we have an item on the April 15th agenda, which may generate more
public interest and comment than usual. There is a considerable amount of background material
associated with this application, so I am sending this to you now in order to provide some extra
time to review this information prior to the meeting. The full agenda packages will go out as
usual about one week prior to the meeting. Please retain the enclosed copies to be added to your
agenda package. I hope this information will be helpful in preparing for your consideration of
this item.
I also wanted to provide you with some "historical" background on this property. While this
may not be relevant to the current application, it might be helpful in understanding comments the
Board may hear from nearby, long-time residents. The Selva Linkside PUD was approved in
1987. As the project was constructed over the next few years, prospective buyers were shown
the property, and the developer and/or real estate agents apparently indicated that the land lying
generally to the immediate east of the new Selva Linkside development was to be preserved and
would never be developed.
I will not speculate as to whether this was a misunderstanding or an intentional
misrepresentation, but this has been conveyed to me many times over the past six years by
former commissioners and residents alike. I believe that the 20 years that the property has
remained undeveloped (while almost every square inch of the City has developed) may have
further reinforced the idea that this property was precluded from future development.
We have thoroughly reviewed these files, which are now 20+ years old, and while there was
some passing reference to a "proposed nature preserve park along the western bank of the
lagoon," we have been unable to find a record of any legally binding commitments made
regarding that area, which is now the subject of this rezoning request. City files reveal that there
was some discussion in 1987 of a "land swap" with the City for land immediately west of the
lagoon, which may explain the reference to a proposed nature preserve park, but no such
transaction ever occurred. Only the small triangular area within this larger wooded area was set
aside as a"recreation lot" for Selva Linkside.
This 7.25-acre area was not included as part of the Selva Linkside PUD, although the existing
street stub on the northeast curve of Linkside Drive would indicate that the developer planned to
add this area to the project in the future. A subsequent rezoning application was denied in 1994,
and the property remained zoned Open Rural (OR) until 2001 when the Open Rural zoning
district was eliminated as a zoning classification. At that time, all formerly OR-zoned lands
within the City, including this parcel, were re-designated to the new Conservation (CON) Zoning
District.
To further confuse the status of this parcel,the Selva Lakes PUD, which is adjacent immediately
to the south of Selva Linkside, did in fact, include the similar wooded area east of that project
within the Selva Lakes PUD, and this area was set aside as a conservation area. (I have indicated
these areas on the enclosed maps.)
While staff understands the desire of nearby property owners to see this area remain
undeveloped, the property is privately owned, and more importantly to the City's consideration
of this rezoning application, this property has had a Residential, Low Density Comprehensive
Plan Future Land Use designation since 1990, when the City's first Comprehensive Plan was
adopted. As such, the property does have legal rights to some level of development consistent
with the Residential, Low density designation it has had for many years. To deny the rezoning
only on the basis of neighbors objections could place the City in a precarious legal position.
That said, it is important to understand that approval of the rezoning in itself, authorizes no
specific plan of development and is only one step in the process that would allow future
development. The site plan submitted with the application is conceptual for the purpose of
providing a general depiction of the intended plan of development.
The applicant has proposed a maximum of 16 lots, but the number of lots appropriate for this
property will be evaluated based upon the factual evidence considered during the rezoning
process, including the studies and reports submitted as part of the application, and other
information as may be provided during the public hearing process. If the rezoning is approved, a
final plan for development and the future application for actual development permits will be
subject to all applicable City Land Development Regulations including impervious limits,
drainage and stormwater, lot size, access, tree protection, wetland buffers and impacts, etc., as
well as the requirements of any state agencies having jurisdiction including the St. Johns River
Water Management District. These other"engineering" requirements may reduce the number of
lots to less than sixteen. In summary, the Applicant has "self-limited"the project to a maximum
of 16 lots,but other requirements could decrease the number of lots to less than sixteen.
Please review the enclosed information, and as always, do not hesitate to call if you have
questions.
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