Mobility Plan Moratorium a failure as St. Johns County overtakes Duval

[thelakelander]

LOL, I guess that moratorium stuff isn't spurring the type of growth that was dreamed upon last year.  Go figure.....

St. Johns County has become the go-to place for new homes, surpassing Duval County at a fast clip.
Homebuilders pulled more permits in St. Johns for the first time in 2011. In the first four months of 2012, the gap widened with St. Johns racking up 566 permits while Duval had 345.

“It’s a vote of confidence for St. Johns County,” County Commissioner Cyndi Stevenson said of the figures.
Jacksonville officials have tried to counteract the growth of bedroom communities in neighboring counties. Blueprint for Prosperity, an economic development plan created in 2006 by the city, warned Jacksonville faces a diminished standard of living if lots of high-income workers keep choosing to live outside the city limits.

But St. Johns County kept gaining a bigger share of new home starts and in 2011 tallied 1,356 permits compared to 1,091 for Duval.

Jacksonville City Council President Stephen Joost said he wants to see whether the change is “a trend or a blip.” He said he would be concerned if there is a long-term shift of families choosing St. Johns. He said the city needs to invest in the urban core so professionals will live there.

“That’s why we want to develop downtown so much,” he said. “We need infill because we are running out of developable space.”

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-05-23/story/st-johns-county-overtakes-duval-new-home-starts

[JeffreyS]

I hope we can start getting some council members to admit this was as bad an idea as we told them it was and pronounce they will let the moratorium sunset.

[Captain Zissou]

If a private entity failed as badly as our recent government has at spurring development, they would be run out of town on a rail. 

The moratorium of the mobility plan is only exceeded in stupidity by the recent propositions for riverside.

[Anti redneck]

Of course it's a failure. That's what moratoriums cause are failures. Yet, Jacksonville loves the word and loves to enact them on whatever they can.

[vicupstate]

I don't think the moratorium had any real impact on the continuation of this years-long trend.  In the 60's Jax was on the road to becoming a Southern version of Detroit, with the most prosperous growth moving outside of the city. 

Consolidation postponed that day of reckoning but now it is in full force again.

Are the schools in the more prosperous areas of Duval really that much worse than SJC, or is it a matter of perception/lumping together?

[Bill Hoff]

From the same article:

  Jacksonville City Council President Stephen Joost said he wants to see whether the change is "a trend or a blip." He said he would be concerned if there is a long-term shift of families choosing St. Johns. He said the city needs to invest in the urban core so professionals will live there. "That's why we want to develop downtown so much," he said. "We need infill because we are running out of developable space." 

&

  While St. Johns gains favor with homebuyers, Jacksonville's residential market has spawned a spate of new apartment construction. In the past six months, the city has issued building permits for 842 new apartment units, versus 427 single-family homes over that same time.

Moore said construction of new apartments is partly from pent-up demand because developers couldn't previously get bank financing.

But the apartment communities also cater to single adults and married couples without children who want to live closer to work and entertainment attractions.

Northeast Florida Regional Council President Brian Teeple said younger professionals who haven't started families are looking for urban lifestyles. He said those professionals can draw relatively high salaries, offsetting the dire scenario set forth in the Blueprint for Prosperity report. "Downtown is strategy number one as far as I'm concerned," he said of appealing to those residents.   

[jcjohnpaint]

Thanks for posting Lake.  Yeah I read that and laughed and thought the same thing. 

[Dog Walker]

"But just think how much WORSE it would have been without the moratorium", says some councilman ducking for cover.

[Tacachale]

SJC has higher fees but better services. It's obvious we tried to compete on the wrong side of that equation.

[Tacachale]

Are the schools in the more prosperous areas of Duval really that much worse than SJC, or is it a matter of perception/lumping together?

Schools in the demographically similar areas of Duval are on par with the schools in northern St. Johns. Additionally, the best schools of all levels in Duval compare favorably to the best in SJC, and anywhere in the state. But our bottom and the overall average are a lot lower.

[Ocklawaha]

St. Augustine's Wards Creek Elementary School serves grades PK-5 in the St. Johns County School District. My grandson is enrolled as a full time student in their pre-K program. It is among the few public schools in Florida to receive a distinguished Great Schools Rating of 10 out of 10.

Maybe this helps to explain why they are currently building over 100 homes with a mile of my house, and many times that number if you move up the road to the rest of WGV, Rivertown, Julington Creek, etc. I'm in St. John's and from what I'm seeing the boom is on... again!

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

^So when did you guys decide to suspend your impact fees in order to stimulate your economy, Ocklawaha?

[bill]

OK so let me get this straight. Lowering the tax on development did not spur any growth. So raising the tax on developers, land owners, business owners and customers will? 

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

OK so let me get this straight. Lowering the tax on development did not spur any growth. So raising the tax on developers, land owners, business owners and customers will?

It's not that hard really, it's all demand driven.  As Ock posted above, if parents think that moving somewhere with a 10/10 school for thier child is worth the extra 10k - 15k home price, then they'll pay it. 

Impact fees don't 'cost' the developers anything if their products are in 'demand'.

[thelakelander]

^Bill, being responsible for your negative impact to public infrastructure isn't a tax.  However, pocketing the cash from your private project and dumping it's negative financial impact on the public is exactly how taxes get raised.