Urgent Notice Regarding Senate Bill 324!

2/21/2018

2/21/18 @ 9:00 a.m. - This week, all five County Commissioners and various County staff are in Tallahassee meeting with Legislators in an effort to ensure that the cost of growth does not fall on the backs of taxpayers. There is proposed legislation which if passed, could cost the County millions of dollars... dollars which developers should have to pay in order to mitigate impacts on local government and provide public facilities needed to support their developments. The County is urging all citizens to contact their senators immediately to OPPOSE SENATE BILL 324 unless amendments are made to protect Nassau County!

Below are some key points you should know:

Raydient (Rayonier) is developing a 24,000 acre master-planned development known as the East Nassau Community Planning Area (ENCPA).
The State, with support of the Board of County Commissioners, approved a Stewardship District for the ENCPA which would be the funding mechanism to build public facilities such as roads, parks, recreation, etc.
Raydient no longer wants to honor its promises to the County and has stopped communicating, including refusal to attend two (2) public Board of County Commissioner meetings held for the purpose of discussing the public private partnership and funding concerns
Instead, Raydient has been lobbying the State to approve Senate Bill 324 and companion bill, House Bill 697. If approved, funding for tens of millions of dollars to build public facilities could fall on the County tax payers rather than the agreement that growth would pay for growth inside the development and not burden citizens ouside of the ENCPA
The County Commissioners were made aware of the bill last week and all 5 Commissioners are in Tallahassee lobbying the amendments to protect the taxpayers
Senate Bill (SB 324) is being heard tomorrow in Senate Appropriations. Oppose Senate Bill 324 unless amendments are made to protect Nassau County!

Who to Contact:
Rob Bradley, Senate Appropriation Chair, at (850) 487-5005 or via email at [email protected] AND
Dana Young, Senator and Bill Sponsor, at (850) 487-5018 or via email at [email protected]

PLEASE CONTACT THEM IMMEDIATELY AND DEMAND THAT SENATE BILL 324 NOT BE APPROVED UNLESS AMENDMENTS ARE MADE TO PROTECT NASSAU COUNTY!!

-Sabrina Robertson
County Manager's Office

10 Comments

Brittney

2/21/2018 07:25:28 am

Nassau County should foot the bill for county amenities that bring in new tax payers and provide better amenities for residence. With the success of Wildlight property values will increase regardless and it will be a major issue if Nassau County's unwillingness to update their outdated parks and recreation facilities exclude the rest of the county from using them.

A deal should be made. And at the very least the county should pay for park maintenance.

Sabrina Robertson

2/21/2018 07:47:45 am

Regardless of anyone's opinion on the ENCPA, we think we can all agree that the Yulee area has grown significantly over the last decade and there's not adequate public spaces, including parks & recreation. The goal of the Commission is to change the way the County does business to ensure that developers are providing the needed facilities to accomodate their growth and that these facilities are open and enjoyable for everyone. The ENCPA Stewardship District has proposed to include a membership based YMCA and other private amenities such as a clubhouse and swimming pool, however none of those will be open to the general public. The County is trying to get them to uphold the original agreement to provide public recreational facilities that would be open to all county residents. Most residents in the Yulee area would like to see more parks and facilities and this is a way we can achieve that.

Kathryn

2/21/2018 08:57:41 am

I don't agree that amenities in private developments should be shared with the entire county. We pay into our CDD and homeowners association for the upkeep of the amenities in our development. I can't imagine the problems that would arise if we opened our amenities to the county population. Our amenities center was bit created to accommodate huge groups of people. It was my understanding that all YMCA facilities are membership-based. Wildlight is going to be a very large development. Hopefully, the county and the developers can reach an understanding that will be beneficial to all.

Sabrina robertson

2/21/2018 10:13:24 am

The County agrees that private neighborhood amenities should remain private and we are not suggesting that the YMCA not be membership based. No one wants to make those facilities public. The ENCPA can build all the private facilities they desired. The problem is that public facilities, for example, parks where kids play Little League or Pop Warner. The ones the County currently has are beyond capacity now. Developments should have to fund the impact it will have on County facilities. The County wants to work this out with Raydient, but unfortunately, they would rather lobby the State than sit down with the County.

Sarah Mosley

2/21/2018 10:51:34 am

And IF the county has the burden of building public recreations on the eastside, will the westside taxpayers be burdened without receiving any benefit?

2/21/2018 11:54:43 am

All County-owned parks and recreation facilities are open to all residents, regardless of where the facilities are located within the County.

Zach

2/22/2018 06:20:19 am

I appreciate the commissioners and senior staff willingness to go to the capitol and tackle this. On the surface it appears that Raydient is being very dishonest in there dealings. They should be made to abide by there original deal with the county and citizens. If not the ENCPA should be abolished or heavy taxes be imposed on property owners within the district. I believe heavy taxes would motivate Raydient to be more open and honest in there dealings.

2/22/2018 06:24:12 am

Thank you for the feedback. If you have a moment, please email the appropriations committee and urge them to consider Senator Bean's amendment he is proposing. We've published a new story this morning containing all the contacts.

Harris

2/23/2018 08:36:21 pm

So Raydient should fund your over crowded county parks even though there isn’t a single resident living in Wildlight? Your arguments smell....

2/27/2018 10:20:43 am

The approved East Nassau Community Planning Area (ENCPA) will have more than 60,000 people at build out, but has started development today. Raydient should fund parks inside the ENCPA to serve the demand they are adding to the County. No one has asked them to fund these parks today. The County only expects that parks will be developed in the same proportionate share as the development grows. They're not expected to build parks to serve 60,000 residents today or build any facilities outside the ENCPA.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Nassau County, Florida

Urgent Notice Regarding Senate Bill 324!

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