Plans for a contested Daily’s convenience store, gas station and car wash in the Fruit Cove area of St. Johns County are off the table, at least for now.
Daily’s owner and operator First Coast Energy has withdrawn its request to amend the St. Johns County Comprehensive Plan, removing their application for the project from the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners’ Aug. 4 agenda.
St. Johns County announced the withdrawal of First Coast Energy’s small-scale comprehensive plan amendment application in a July 31 news release.
The withdrawal came after the Jacksonville-based company received a unanimous recommendation for denial from the county’s Planning and Zoning Agency on July 9.
A comprehensive plan amendment is a request to change how the county’s long-range growth plan classifies a property. A rezoning request, which is a separate approval process, deals with the specific development rules and permitted uses for the site.
The application involved 7.7 acres at 600 Florida 13 N. and sought to change the property’s Future Land Use Map designation from Residential-B to Community Commercial, which would allow a broader range of commercial uses.
Records show First Coast Energy purchased the site for $3 million on July 26, 2016, according to a St. Johns County Clerk of the Court filing.
County planning staff said the proposed Community Commercial designation would allow higher-intensity commercial uses, including convenience stores with gas stations and car wash facilities, that are not permitted under the property’s current Residential-B designation.
The proposed amendment also included a site-specific text amendment limiting commercial development to the southern portion of the property while preserving the northern portion for stormwater retention and green space.
The comprehensive plan amendment was the approval needed for the Daily’s gas station option.
On April 14, First Coast Energy hosted a publicly noticed Northwest Corridor Community Planning and Participation meeting at Fruit Cove Middle School, where its attorneys presented two conceptual development options for the property: a retail and office development that could proceed under the existing land use designation and a Daily’s convenience store with fuel pumps and a car wash, which required the amendment.
According to a memorandum submitted to county staff ahead of the PZA’s July 9 meeting by First Coast Energy attorney Jason Gabriel of Burr & Forman , about 165 residents attended the meeting.
Gabriel’s memo stated residents raised concerns about traffic congestion, safety near a school bus stop, environmental impacts, noise, lighting and the compatibility of a gas station adjacent to residential neighborhoods.
A separate letter sent to the county from Fruit Cove resident and meeting attendee Joe McAnarney said Fruit Cove Estates Homeowners Association President Mike Dunlop and the association supported a retail and office development but voted to oppose the Daily’s proposal.
“No matter how you dress it up, it’s a 24/7 high intensity regional gas station,” Dunlop said at the PZA meeting during public comment.
First Coast Energy representatives defended the project, arguing the proposed Daily’s would be a less intensive use than the retail and office alternative and was appropriate for the existing commercial corridor.
“We are not trying to pull a fast one,” Gabriel told the PZA. “We are trying to take time to be considerate and thoughtful on the approach on this whole thing.”
The Planning and Zoning Agency voted 6-0 to recommend denial. County staff said most public comments received throughout the review process opposed the proposal, citing concerns about traffic, public safety, noise, pollution and potential environmental impacts.
A traffic study submitted with the application concluded a traffic signal at Otoes Place and Florida 13 North would be warranted by 2028 at full build-out if the convenience store, gas station and car wash were developed.
The proposed land use change represented First Coast Energy’s third attempt to secure a comprehensive plan amendment for the property.
A similar application was withdrawn in 2016 after the Planning and Zoning Agency recommended denial, while the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners unanimously denied a second request in 2019 after another PZA recommendation for denial.
The most recent withdrawal does not indicate whether First Coast Energy plans to abandon the project, revise its proposal or pursue another approval path. The status of any related rezoning request also remains unclear.
Under St. Johns County’s Land Development Code, there is no mandatory waiting period to resubmit a forfeited small-scale comprehensive plan amendment application. A new application would require payment of applicable fees and would go through the county’s review process, including required public hearings.
The company has not released additional details regarding its decision to withdraw the application or what could happen next with the property.