Farmland to subdivisions: what St. Johns County has approved, denied and will hear next under Florida's new agricultural enclave law

St. Johns County has now certified three farmland parcels, totaling about 551 acres, as "agricultural enclaves" under a new Florida law that gives qualifying landowners a faster route to building homes. It has denied three others covering more than 5,600 acres, one of those denials is now in court, and three more requests are on the County Commission's agenda for Tuesday, Nov. 3.

What happened

News4JAX tallied the county's records on Oct. 29: county leaders said 16 applications have been submitted, three approved and three denied. Applicants who fall short get a letter and a chance to resubmit.

The two most recent approvals came at the Oct. 20 commission meeting, according to Jacksonville Today and the county's agenda. The first, Carter Road Associates, covers about 200.75 acres at the northern end of Carter Road, west of Thompson Bailey Road. Jacksonville Today described it as southeast of the Interstate 95/State Road 16 interchange and said it is expected to bring about 260 homes. Commissioners approved it 4-1, with Commissioner Ann Taylor dissenting. The commission had previously denied a plan for almost 400 homes in the same area.

The second, Pacetti Oaks, is about 40.5 acres at 3975 Pacetti Road, south of State Road 16, near the Six Mile Creek community by World Golf Village. Jacksonville Today reported the landowner's representatives agreed to cut the allowed density from five homes per acre to two. That approval passed 3-2.

The third approval came earlier, on Sept. 15: about 310 acres west of Pacetti Road and north of County Road 208, owned by AFI Associates. Jacksonville Today reported it could lead to more than 300 homes. It passed 3-2, with Commissioners Sarah Arnold, Clay Murphy and Christian Whitehurst in favor.

What was denied, and what's in court

The largest application so far was denied. On Sept. 15, commissioners voted 3-2 to reject certification for 4,462 acres north of Nocatee along the Intracoastal Waterway, on Palm Valley Road. The application came from the PARC Group, the developer behind Nocatee, on behalf of the Davis family, founders of Winn-Dixie. Jacksonville Today, which described it as a 4,000-home proposal, reported the board had failed to decide earlier in September, which under the law would have meant automatic approval.

On Oct. 19, PARC filed a petition asking the 7th Judicial Circuit Court to review the denial (Case No. AP26-0006). The petition asks whether the commission correctly applied state law. The Daily Record reported that county staff had found the property met the law's requirements, that no development plans have been submitted and that no review timetable has been set.

The county also reversed itself on two neighboring parcels near I-95 and State Road 207. Heritage Development East, about 615 acres east of I-95, and Heritage Development West, about 551 acres west of it, were approved 3-2 on Aug. 19. At a special meeting on Sept. 28, the board voted 3-2 to deny both. The minutes say the majority found the land was not surrounded by a legally established urban service area. Jacksonville Today reported the two projects could have brought as many as 15,000 homes. Another proposal, which Jacksonville Today described as about 600 acres east of the Trailmark community, was withdrawn from the Oct. 20 agenda before it was discussed.

Background: how the law works

The law is Senate Bill 686, which became Chapter 2026-34, Laws of Florida, and took effect July 1, 2026. Under the county's implementing rules, an owner can ask to have farmland certified as an enclave if, as of Jan. 1, 2025, it was held by a single owner, had been in bona fide agricultural use for five years, and was mostly surrounded by existing or planned development. Public services such as water, sewer, roads and schools must be available or scheduled, or the applicant must offer to pay its share.

The timelines are tight. The county has 30 days to issue a written compliance report and then 30 more days to hold a hearing. If the commission doesn't approve or deny within 90 days of receiving the application, the land is certified automatically. A denial must include written findings, and the applicant can ask the circuit court to review it within 30 days.

Certification is not a building permit. Once land is certified, though, the owner can submit plans for single-family homes that match the density of an adjacent parcel or development. Those plans must be treated as a conforming use regardless of the comprehensive plan or zoning. The county then has 30 business days to agree on a review schedule that can't run longer than 180 days and can't require more public hearings or quasi-judicial review. The county also can't treat enclaves more strictly than comparable projects.

The law is temporary: the Florida Senate's bill analysis says these provisions expire Jan. 1, 2028. In September, the commission directed its lawyers to look at ways to challenge the law, and Murphy said he would start a petition drive seeking its repeal.

The numbers that matter

• 16 applications submitted, 3 approved, 3 denied, per county leaders cited by News4JAX on Oct. 29.
• About 551 acres certified so far: 200.75 (Carter Road), 40.5 (Pacetti Oaks) and 310 (AFI).
• About 5,628 acres denied: 4,462 (North Palm Valley) plus about 1,166 (Heritage East and West).
• 90 days: the deadline after which an application not acted on is certified automatically.
• 180 days: the maximum review schedule for development plans on certified land.
• Jan. 1, 2028: the date the law's enclave provisions are set to expire.
• Nov. 3 agenda: Star IV, about 70.83 acres west of State Road 16, between Grand Oaks and Windward Ranch (continued from Oct. 20), plus Osceola Lakes North (about 103.29 acres) and Osceola Lakes South (about 40 acres), south of Wildwood Drive and north of Watson Road, about a mile west of U.S. 1 South.

What it means if you're moving here

World Golf Village and the State Road 16/Pacetti Road corridor. This is where most of the approvals are clustered: Carter Road, Pacetti Oaks and the AFI land, with Star IV up next. The same corridor is already absorbing growth. On Oct. 20, the commission unanimously approved changes to Grand Oaks and then a companion agreement letting Pulte resume building there, with up to 512 more homes and a $20 million transportation contribution in place of a requirement to widen about three miles of State Road 16, according to the St. Johns Citizen. Separately, the county's State Road 16 widening from International Golf Parkway to just past County Road 2209 was about 70 percent complete in September and is expected to finish in early spring 2027, News4JAX reported. If you're shopping in Six Mile Creek, Grand Oaks or Windward Ranch, plan for more traffic, not less; see our traffic guide.

Nocatee and Ponte Vedra Beach. The 4,462 acres north of Nocatee are denied for now, but the court petition keeps the question open for buyers near Palm Valley Road.

Near I-95 and State Road 207, and west of U.S. 1 South. If you're looking at the St. Augustine area's southern and western edges, note that the Heritage parcels near I-95 and State Road 207 were denied, and the Osceola Lakes requests, about a mile west of U.S. 1 South, are on Tuesday's agenda.

Anywhere at the edge of a subdivision. Pasture behind a lot isn't a promise that it will stay pasture. Before you buy, check nearby parcels against the county's enclave applications and commission agendas. Certification alone doesn't mean shovels are coming; development plans still have to be filed and reviewed. See also our guide to new home developments.

Our take

This is our opinion, based on the reporting and records above. The useful thing for newcomers to understand is that this law shifted the question commissioners are allowed to ask. Under it, the vote is largely about whether a parcel meets statutory tests, not whether the county wants more homes there. That helps explain the close votes and why the same board approved, then reversed, the Heritage parcels.

We see real tradeoffs. Infill farmland can add housing supply, and some approvals, like Pacetti Oaks at two homes per acre, are modest in scale. But the approvals are concentrated in a corridor where the county is still widening State Road 16 and where, by the Citizen's account, the Grand Oaks payment falls well short of the widening's estimated cost. Infrastructure timing is the issue we'd weigh most heavily if you're buying out there.

What we're watching next:

• The Nov. 3 hearings on Star IV and the two Osceola Lakes parcels.
• The circuit court's handling of PARC's petition over the land north of Nocatee.
• Whether any certified owner files development plans, which would start the 180-day review clock.
• Whether the Legislature revisits the law before its Jan. 1, 2028 sunset.

We'll update this note after Tuesday's meeting.