BOCC considers Deerfield’s future

A land use amendment for a proposed RV park amid a residential area will be on the county commission’s agenda Monday at 7 p.m.

The Planning and Zoning Board chose to recommend denial of the land use amendment to the commission at its Oct. 2 meeting, but the decision is ultimately up to the Nassau County Commission. The commissioners, which will include newly elected members Thomas Ford and Aaron Bell as well as Danny Leeper, Pat Edwards and Justin Taylor, could go against the P&Z Board’s decision and approve zoning that could allow the RV park. If the commission approves it Monday night, the amendment will be transmitted to the state for review and the state would then have 30 days to review it.

Landowners Ken Greene and Chad Grogan seek reclassification of Deerfield Lakes Golf Course and surrounding parcels to recreational use on Nassau County’s Future Land Use Map, which would open the door for the RV park’s arrival.

Greene and Grogan plan to submit a Planned Unit Development application for Deerfield Lakes to be converted from an 18-hole golf course to a site with 450 recreational vehicle slips and cabins, a nine-hole golf course, miniature golf, a water park, playgrounds, a clubhouse or restaurant and other possibilities. 

The PUD is also listed on Monday’s agenda, but has a request for continuance from county staff added to it. According to the letter sent to county staff and Greene and Grogan’s attorney, procedurally the PUD cannot be heard Monday night, as the FLUM amendment has not been adopted and reviewed by the state yet.

If the FLUM change is approved, Greene and Grogan’s PUD application would go before the county’s P&Z Board for approval or denial. The PUD was originally on the Oct. 2 P&Z Board agenda, but never considered since the PUD was for a property zoned as recreational use and 16 citizens spoke out against the FLUM amendment. The P&Z Board voted 5-4 against recommending the FLUM amendment’s approval to the commission.

Currently, the majority of the 265-acre property is zoned for low-density residential and open rural. The golf course opened in 1964, offering citizens the recreational pastime for more than 50 years.

Greene and Grogan held a meeting with affected citizens Tuesday. Many could not attend due to other commitments near the Thanksgiving holiday. Another resident expressed concern that she cannot attend Monday’s meeting because of holiday plans. Faye Shute sent a letter to the Record.

“Changing the zoning to recreational will begin a slow downhill change in the neighborhood lifestyle. We live in a rural area because of the advantages of having our woods and leisurely lifestyle,” she wrote, later adding, “The kids can ride their bikes without worrying about traffic or strangers hanging around.”

She also cited concern about flooding. The county has failed to clear Thomas Creek since Tropical Storm Fay flooded homes along Fouracre Circle in 2008. At least one home neighboring the golf course also flooded during Hurricane Irma in 2017 and several more homes were in danger. Drainage for the creek should flow through a county-owned ditch between Deerfield and neighboring properties, but water deepens instead, overflowing and creeping toward homes.

“Every time we have a very hard and long rain or hurricane, the creek rises and goes up into the yards and roads. We don’t complain; we deal with it, but you add a change to the zoning there is no telling what will happen then,” Shute wrote.

Other property owners spoke Oct. 2, questioning the need for the RV park so close to several others just inside Jacksonville, including Flamingo Lake RV Park and Pecan Park RV Resort.

Parents also questioned how the campsites would be kept free of sexual offenders, or if any way to protect neighboring children would be considered.