Background

St. Johns County is in the process of gathering feedback from members of our community that they will use to update its Comprehensive Plan. The comprehensive plan is a long-range plan that helps guide the future actions of our county through clearly stated goals, objectives, and policies. These policies inform local decision-making, setting the tone for future growth and development in our community.

To this end, the County has hired a firm called Inspire Placemaking Collective to gather input from residents. Over the next year, there will be numerous opportunities for folks to weigh-in via online surveys and in-person town halls.

How can you help:

You can share your ideas regarding the future of the community on the community Idea Wall. Help us make sure that our appetite for smart growth and natural resource protection are well-represented!

Website: https://www.inspire-engagement.com/st-johns-county-plan-update

St. Johns County 2070

In 2016, smart growth advocacy group, 1000 Friends of Florida, released the Florida 2070 project. This project established a baseline for land use in Florida, then projected what the state will look like in the year 2070 based on current scenarios and growth trends. The Florida 2070 project reveals that if Florida does not change the way it develops, by 2070 more than a third of Florida’s lands could be paved over, with development-related water demand more than doubling. A more sustainable alternative shows that if Florida follows compact development patterns and increases the amount of land conserved, it will save 1.8 million acres of land from development and conserve an additional 5.8 million acres of natural and agricultural land, while still accommodating the same growth in population. 

In November of 2019, Matanzas Riverkeeper partnered with 1000 Friends of Florida for St. Johns County 2070 - a study focused on growth projections for St. Johns County as well as development of policy tools that could help to ensure a more sustainable future for our community. We hosted two community workshops to share this information and to gather feedback from residents. On June 23, 2020, our webinar, St. Johns County 2070:  What’s Next?, recapped the results of the St. Johns County 2070 study, shared feedback gathered from the workshops, and discussed smart growth policy tools and recommendations.