How one small Florida Beach Town Fought Back Aggressive Developers
Latest Update: On March 15, 2021, the Neptune Beach City Council voted 4–0 to remove any reference to Residential in Commercial property from the City’s Vision Plan draft (see below). The Comprehensive Plan is now being updated.
In the spring of 2018, a group of Neptune Beach, FL residents was surprised to see full page ads in a local newspaper promoting a new apartment complex. The development was “coming soon” at the busy intersection of Atlantic Blvd and State Road A1A.
The applicant’s proposal was billed a “done deal” but needed a special exception to allow residential in commercial zoned property.
A group called Neptune Strong soon organized against the project. The initial goal was achieved quickly: more than half registered voters engaged (numbers crested at close to 5000 with neighboring Atlantic and Jacksonville Beaches).
Demographics spanned the political spectrum, ranging from first-time voters to citizens who had never been as engaged to elderly neighbors.
Residents put up yard signs, sported bumper stickers, wrote newspaper columns, sent postcards and e-mails, and met in person, all in an effort to protect the City.
Summer of 2018: City Meetings
July 18, 2018: Community Development Board (CDB) More than 1000 people packed Fletcher High auditorium (the highest # ever recorded at a City of Neptune Beach meeting; see photo above).
More than 50 citizens spoke within the allotted time increments to present competent, substantial evidence in opposition.
Defeat #1: CDB Denies 6–0 (see news coverage in link)
Aug. 13, 2018: City Council Three weeks later, the same proposal was brought before Council.
Again, more than 1000 people attended the City meeting at Fletcher High School (on the first day of school). Again, the proposal was unanimously voted down.
Defeat #2: Council Denies 5–0 (see news coverage in link)
Applicant Sues the City
After these two resounding defeats, the developer team went on the record and told City Council they did not care what citizens or City leaders thought was best and they would “have no choice except to go forward.” That meant suing the City for what they believed they were entitled to build.
After a loss at the Fourth Circuit Appeal and then at the District Court of Appeals, the City ultimately prevailed, with support from citizens cited as a factor in the judge’s ruling:
Per many cited court cases: “Fact-based citizen testimony can amount to competent substantial evidence in a land-use matter.”
The applicant claimed to have never seen this level of opposition before.
That’s because Neptune Beach is truly a special, unique place, worth preserving — and fighting for.
Once the court case was decided, citizens put signs away, took off bumper stickers and relaxed, thinking the job was done.
Dover Kohl & Partners Begins Vision Plan
In January 2020, consultants Dover, Kohl & Partners began developing a
Vision Plan with the goal of using this vision to update the City’s comprehensive plan. Though planning started before, the entire process took place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Upon completion of the final draft in the fall of 2020, citizens who had previously trusted the process were surprised to see renderings even worse than what had been defeated in 2018.
The Vision Plan, which citizens believed would close loopholes in the codes and protect the city from future attacks, appeared to be actually laying a roadmap for mixed use residential development.
Citizens realize the most important part of the Vision plan is the Land Use map. Everything else can be a “menu approach” but this map is critical to protecting quality of life.
After strong opposition from residents, City staff agreed to remove all references of residential in commercial/mixed use removed throughout the Vision Plan and Council voted on March 15, 2021.
Thankfully, residents didn’t need to break out the yard signs or petitions this time. But questions remain…
Why did it take so frustratingly long to make the temporary moratorium patch from 2018 into a permanent solution?
How did residential in commercial renderings get revived from the start of the Vision Plan process after citizens had already spoken in 2018?
Why was Dover Kohl given this direction in developing the Vision Plan?
Why did we specify Form-based codes in the RFQ?
Why wasn’t maintaining current infrastructure given more priority over new development?
Resident’s Position
The position of residents remained consistent from 2018:
Develop and Redevelop to preserve our low residential density character
Keep Commercial Zoning intact — Remove any mechanism that would allow residential in commercially zoned property to include variances, special exceptions and the PUD.
In order to ensure Neptune Beach stays low density, residents have repeatedly requested that the City modify the residential density range. As it currently stands, the top residential density is 17 units per acre (too high for our City).
The purpose is not to decide what “should” happen on any commercial property. It is to express the community’s desire that elected officials uphold existing codes, fix or remove the PUD which opened Neptune Beach up for the attack in 2018, fix or remove other weak points in our codes, and update our Comprehensive Plan.
Commercial properties along both Atlantic and 3rd Street need improvement, within the existing code. Residents respect responsible development and property owner’s right to work within the codes, but Neptune Beach doesn’t have the infrastructure to absorb dense (or “residential mixed use”) projects.
“Right-size”/ Incremental Growth
With 900+ new residents a day, it’s possible the rest of Florida can’t slow a searing growth rate.
Neptune Beach can.
In the long view, it will be an anomaly to maintain a relatively slow growth municipality in the state.
Other geographies need to discourage urban sprawl, as required by state statutes, but the unique layout of Neptune Beach provides natural boundaries to contain potential sprawl (Atlantic Ocean to the east, Intracoastal Waterway to the west and established roadways as city borders to the north and south).
Looking back, people will wonder how we did it and will be thankful we did.
That’s what Neptune Beach has the opportunity to do and why citizens have fought so hard.
See more media coverage below…
The Kmart yard signs appeared overnight. Red circles with diagonal lines slashed across the words “BIG APARTMENT COMPLEX.” The people of Neptune Beach, I took it, were angry.
For years, the Kmart on Atlantic Boulevard seemed destined for its blighted future. The store was almost always empty, and when there were customers in the checkout line, there were few employees around to check them out. Even before it finally closed in 2016, I’d speculate with my husband, Alex, about what the building could be someday. “What about a movie theater?” Alex suggested. Aside from work and the occasional commitment with a townie friend, movies are about the only thing for which we would willingly cross the ditch.
Eventually, we figured, the Kmart would probably be transformed into yet another apartment complex. Even though the prospect didn’t seem like the best choice for our tiny beach town, the yard signs emphatically stating the opinion to thwart the development made me roll my eyes. Families are being separated at the Mexican-American border, and this is what our community decides to focus on? It just felt wrong to me. But that’s the problem with grassroots movements — they’ll almost always pale in comparison to the magnitude of the rest of the world’s sorrows. When Alex and I would discuss Trump’s daily policy changes during dinner, we took pleasure in dramatically adding, “But the Kmart!”
Alex and I are the youngest on our street of retirees, who are known for their occasional gripes.
They’re all thrilled to have landed in Northeast Florida, and they’ll make sure you know it. By the same token, they’ll also let you know when they’re less than thrilled. More yard signs popped up as weeks went by. Alex pulled into the driveway one day and noticed that the neighbor’s ‘lawn décor’ had inched closer to our yard, straddling the property line. He plucked it out of the grass and moved it back closer to her driveway. I giggled at my beloved curmudgeon. “These signs are just so ugly,” he said.
He’s right — the images are hideous in their simplicity, but they sure do get the point across. The organizers had the design printed on T-shirts, front and back, so they could wear them in protest. I knew their campaign was getting advanced when I saw a promoted tweet for the cause. I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time and kept scrolling.
Later, a postcard landed in our mailbox, encouraging us to attend a community meeting at Fletcher High School on a Wednesday night. The card explained that the Neptune Beach Community Development Board would vote on whether or not to advise the city to accept the proposed plans for the potential complex. Alex read it over my shoulder. “We should go,” he said.
I wanted to cavalierly toss the postcard in the recycling. But we agreed that a big apartment complex’s traffic increase at Atlantic and Third would be a pain in the neck. “Also, there could be a fight during the meeting,” Alex added with wide eyes, “and that would be really funny.”
If binge-watching Parks and Recreation has taught me anything, it’s to never say no to witnessing a fight at a public meeting. I was in.
By the time we got to Fletcher on the big night, the auditorium was packed. Representatives from TriBridge Residential, the developer of the proposed complex, each gave their names and addresses before proceeding with their proposed plans. The 500 Atlantic address, where the blighted Kmart stands, would not only have an apartment complex with ample parking, but a boutique hotel, shops, restaurants and a public nature trail. As the developers spoke, hundreds of Neptune Beach residents waved pieces of paper with one word: “NO.”
One of the developers took the floor, mentioning that he’d lived at the Beaches since moving to Northeast Florida in 2003. He spoke about his love for the area and what made it home. Toward the end of his spiel, though, a woman in the crowd shouted, “He hasn’t given his name or address!”
The man paused. Gulped. Offered his name. Then, he gave his address — Ponte Vedra Beach.
Now, if there’s anything Neptune Beach people despise more than apartment complexes and crossing the ditch, it’s Ponte Vedra. Ponte Vedra, and the types of people who choose to live there, with their street-legal golf carts and their blatant lack of public beach accesses. From that moment on, it was clear that this snooty developer could not care less about our community. The Neptune crowd wasn’t having any of his fake one-of-us attitude. Persistent booing forced the developer to wrap up his presentation early and sit back down among his TriBridge cronies.
In awe, I looked around at the crowd. These were my people. My curmudgeons. I hardly recognized anyone there. I talk a lot about how much I love my town, but rarely engage with the people in it.
While the committee took a break, Alex and I took a stroll down the halls of Fletcher — his alma mater, as well as my father’s. I peeked inside the gymnasium and imagined my dad running suicides during basketball practice, back when his hair was far more pepper than salt. This town is deep in my bones, I realized.
Neptune Beach is an anomaly. Our anomaly. In terms of undeveloped coastal towns in Florida, we may be the last of the Mohicans. So who am I to claim that I love this town, yet roll my eyes at neighbors who work tirelessly to maintain it?
After the recess, the floor was opened for public comment. Our neighbors took the mic in three-minute increments, offering a presentation on density changes the 500 Atlantic development was certain to cause. They all stood before the board to share their love for our quiet little hamlet, as it is right now — without mega-development.
Just before 11 p.m., the board voted. Voted unanimously to deny the proposed development. The thunderous applause was triumphant. Still, as we walked to the car, Alex hung his head low. “I’m disappointed in myself,” he muttered.
I knew what he meant because I felt it, too. It took us both too long to see that our town’s grassroots movement was driven by the most authentic love. My grandfather always told me, “It’s the people that make a place.” That phrase has never resonated more for me than it does now.
I can’t wait to see what our community allows 500 Atlantic to become. I know we’ll make the right choice together.
