St. Johns County Civic Roundtable
November 12, 2021
Board of County Commissioners
St. Johns County
500 San Sebastian Way
Saint Augustine, FL 32084
Sent via email
Dear Chairman Blocker and Fellow Commissioners,
The St. Johns County Civic Roundtable is very concerned about the proposal to build the 194-room Vilano Hotel and suggest that the current proposal be denied. There are a number of concerning issues that arise from this proposed hotel that have been raised by the residents of Vilano.
We share the concerns about the issues related to traffic, fire safety, necessary infrastructure and the incompatibility with the Vilano overlay district.
Another issue that has been raised is whether the local private utility, North Beach Utilities, has the capacity to serve the proposed Vilano Hotel in addition to the two new large hotels in the immediate vicinity as well as the residents in the area. The County needs to reevaluate this private utility and determine if this utility is able to adequately service this part of the county. We also recommend that St. Johns County utility department become the sole provider of water and sewer to all parts of the county.
The Roundtable is most distressed to hear from Vilano citizens that they believe their concerns have not been adequately heard or addressed by the County. The taxpayers and citizens of this county deserve to have their issues thoroughly and fairly addressed by staff and elected officials.
The Vilano Hotel proposal is one more example for the county’s need to conduct growth management and visioning workshops as soon as possible. Builders, developers and citizens share many of the same concerns and issues related to continuing fast pace of growth. Now is the time to bring all groups together to have this conversation and work toward solutions to ensure that we can accommodate growth but also maintain the quality of life that we treasure in St. Johns County.
The Civic Roundtable urges the Board to follow the recommendation of the North Coastal Design & Review Board and reject the Vilano Hotel.
Respectfully,
Jim McLane
Chairman
The purpose of the St. Johns County Civic Roundtable is to preserve and improve the quality of life in St. Johns County
