The signatures attached to this petition are for adult residents in the World Golf Village area of St. John’s County, St. Augustine, FL that oppose the proposed development: “Preserve at Wards Creek” located at 6351 CR-16A (the corner of State Road 16 and County Road 16A).  

There are multiple reasons that the residents of this area oppose this project. We understand that details may have been overlooked by the non-residents of the area who aren’t affected by these changes and certain research criteria results may have concluded prior to our current growth/overcrowding situation so we hope that you, our county officials will take into consideration the validity of these concerns upon making your decision.

Our area has seen tremendous growth this last couple of years and is continuing to rapidly grow and expand to today. Silverleaf is zoned for 16,300 residential homes. Our limited 1-2 lane roadways and schools have all been majorly impacted and Silverleaf is currently only about one-third complete. In addition to the Silverleaf master-development, we have had multiple smaller residential communities built that have also added to the congestion of our local roadways and overcrowding of our schools. The First Coast Expressway will also have access directly onto CR-16A just north of the proposed location along with the newly approved 73-acre Multipurpose Sports Complex planned for early 2025. Currently, our roads are just not ready for the continued growth we’re expecting.

In addition to increased daily traffic, our schools have been heavily impacted. Wards Creek Elementary is located less than half a mile away from this proposed 288-unit residential complex. WCES has a current enrollment of 1160 students with a school capacity of 760 students —400 students over capacity! There are now 32 portables on school property to accommodate for the Silverleaf community influx with more expected for next school year. Nearby Pacetti Bay Middle School is also overcrowded with 1525 students and a capacity of 1228 students, with 26 portables. 

With this growth, the schools are presented with a major increase in new staff members, family involvement has been reduced because school-related events aren't able to safely accommodate for so many families, the school bus transportation is already suffering with lack of resources, and we even have school buses making double routes each morning and each afternoon in order to transport all the students within our local neighborhoods to the schools. Adding ANY additional students to our schools is burdensome and again, Silverleaf is still in development with more families on the way.

While affordable housing is important, it should not come at the expense of overburdening our existing infrastructure or compromising on quality education for our children. We need responsible development that takes into account current resources and plans accordingly. The proposed location is highly problematic. We urge our Planning & Zoning Agency members and our Board of County Commissioners to deny residential development until existing projects and the upcoming approved projects in this area are established and an effective plan can be put into place. 

We thank you for your time and consideration. 

PETITIONERS — Please only sign this petition if you are an adult resident aged 18+ that resides within the affected area (roadways/schools) of this proposed project location. Feel free to add your commentary which will be exported and presented to our county officials for review. Thank you.