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Annexation page
- 16 Jul 04 Train to Orange Park is leaving
the station........
The Fernandina Beach Commission is currently reviewing two annexation and
rezoning proposals for 12 acres on Amelia and Simmons roads. These rezoning
changes, if adopted, will allow 12 acres of open rural county land, with seven
homes, to become two developments within the city, with up to 48 homes. These 48
homes will be 10 feet apart on 50-foot-wide lots.
These proposed developments are nothing more than developer-generated urban
sprawl with the only purpose to generate the maximum profit for the developer.
These developments are not only incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood,
and Fernandina Beach, but they totally disregard existing trees and impacts on
the islands' future.
The two developments, if approved, along with Ocean Breeze/Isle de Mai, total
just 83 acres of land. They will however, add a minimum of 480 additional cars
to the surrounding rural road system and dump these cars into already crowded
roadway intersections.
Do we want to have the traffic gridlock and development problems of Orange Park?
Or do we say to the city commission that there is more to this beautiful island
than urban sprawl and increased tax rolls.
It is time for all island residents to
speak to their city commissioners and get involved. Support the
News-Leader's request (Editorial, "A city grow on Amelia," June 30) for new
future land use maps. Attend the city
commission meetings on Tuesday and Aug. 17 and be heard about your island's
future!
The city of Fernandina's development and urban sprawl train is leaving the
station, and the next stop is Orange Park.
Residents to Save Amelia Road
(Shirley and Ruben Bolden, Bobby Dunman, Deborah and Lawrence Dunman, Greg Lane,
Pam and Peter Procko, Amy and Aaron Sweatt, Pam and Walter Thomas)
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- 30 Jun 04 News-Leader
Editorial
Urbanization is gaining speed on Amelia Island. Two examples:
-- LandSouth Development Inc. of Macon, Ga., has proposed to the county that it
be allowed to build 36 condominium units on 5.5 acres of marshfront property on
First Coast Highway near Scott Road.
Zoning for that area only allows 16 units, but LandSouth proposes to get around
that with a swap of "density rights" whereby this property is overdeveloped
while another is underdeveloped.
-- Construction has begun on a 195-home subdivision between Simmons and Bailey
roads, paving the way for annexation of additional rural county land for new
developments. A 32-home subdivision and 12-unit townhome project have been
proposed, and more will follow.
This is a march to the Amelia Island Parkway, which will culminate when all land
north of the airport has been annexed into the city and commercial development
lines the parkway.
It would not be fair to say this is unplanned development. It is planned - by
developers, government officials and select landowners. Most of us, however,
including the neighbors of many of these subdivisions, are left out until it's
too late to do much about it.
Density swaps sound to us like another scheme to get around county laws that are
intended to regulate development. If you're unfortunate enough to be the
neighbor of that overdeveloped condo project, you lose.
The new city subdivision - Isle de Mai, formerly Ocean Breeze - was negotiated
by city officials and developers outside the normal planning process. It now
appears part of a larger plan to annex swatches of open rural land, bit by bit,
until that rural enclave is as citified as the rest of Fernandina Beach.
City or county, open rural land is disappearing. Country living is giving way to
city life.
This urban spread hasn't been endorsed by city or county residents. It's not
precisely defined on either the city or county future land use maps. Slowly but
surely, though, Amelia Island is becoming a city.
We think it's time for an Amelia Island comprehensive plan - a future land
use map that island residents can debate and influence before it's too late.
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