BOCC approves RV park development plan

A luxury recreational vehicle park came one step closer to reality, despite a marathon meeting of the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners, in which more than 20 people spoke out against it.

The BOCC considered approval of the final development plan for Breakers RV Resort, filed by Intact Construction, developer Gillette and Associates and the property owner, Ben Buchanan and his representative, John Laserre. The property, located on the southwest corner of Sadler and Ryan roads, was rezoned in February 2022 from single family to Commercial General, or CG. Travel trailer parks and campgrounds are a permitted use in CG.

The meeting room of BOCC was filled to capacity, and the overflow of people speaking on the matter had to be put in the hallway of the building. Of all those who spoke, just one person supported the RV park. The crowd became more restless as the meeting progressed, with county commissioners and the county clerk threatening those in chambers with expulsion if they did not quiet down.

The park came before the county’s Planning and Zoning Board last month, when Buchanan said the city of Fernandina Beach had declined to put the park on its sewer system, and so plans changed to build a septic system for it. The PZB voted unanimously not to approve the project, based on traffic safety issues and concerns about installing a septic system. The county’s planning staff, however, recommended approval of the development plan.

Speakers representing the applicant at the BOCC meeting included environmental engineer Patrick Higgins, who addressed concerns regarding the septic system proposed for the park, and Rajesh Chindalur, a transportation engineer who conducted a traffic study of the area surrounding the project, and Asa Gillette, whose firm designed it.

Chindalur said his traffic study showed the rating of the traffic on Sadler and Ryan roads would not decrease if the park was built. Higgins said the project conforms to all environmental regulations, has been approved by the Nassau County Department of Health and is currently awaiting final approval from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

County Attorney Denise May explained that BOCC was considering a final development plan and all testimony had to be relevant to the section of the county’s Land Development Code that was applicable, Section 28.09, items 1 through 7. Those items addressed traffic flow: a travel trailer park or campground shall be so located that no entrance nor exit from a park shall discharge traffic into any residential district. A travel trailer park or campground fronting on a public street shall have a minimum of 150 feet of frontage; permitted use: spaces in the travel trailer park and campground shall be used exclusively for temporary portable housing. Permanent occupancy for dwelling purposes is prohibited and spaces shall be rented by the day or week only; accessory uses: management headquarters, recreational facilities, toilets, showers, coin-operated laundry facilities and other uses and structures customarily incidental to the operation of a travel trailer park or campground are permitted as accessory uses; yard requirements: 25 feet front, rear and side yards shall be provided for travel trailer parks or campgrounds; relation of spaces to exterior streets: no space intended for occupancy shall be so located that any part intended for occupancy for sleeping purposes shall be within 50 feet of the right-of-way line of any arterial street or within 25 feet of the right-of-way line of any other street; design of access to park: all traffic into or out of the park shall be through entrances and exits designed for the safe and convenient movement of traffic; off-street parking, loading and maneuvering space: each travel trailer park or campground shall provide adequate off-street parking, loading and maneuvering space; in connection with the use of any travel trailer park or campground, no parking, loading or maneuvering incidental to parking or loading shall be permitted on any public street, sidewalk or public right-of-way.

As the park has been permitted for a septic system by the DOH and a traffic study had been conducted, May called testimony by speakers regarding those aspects of the project “irrelevant” and after the first few speakers asked that not be discussed. BOCC Chair Klynt Farmer agreed and asked speakers to offer only testimony that was relevant and not repetitive of what others had already offered. Many speakers said that made what they were going to say a moot point, and so after being sworn in, had nothing to say. Some members of the audience expressed disappointment and were offended, saying they had spent time and money preparing evidence, only to be told it was not relevant and that they were not allowed to have it considered by the BOCC.

Speakers in opposition to the park said that while the area surrounding the park site is not zoned residential, the area is in fact residential and RVs moving on Ryan Road and in the Pirates Bay neighborhood would be disruptive and in fact dangerous.

Property owner Ben Buchanan told the BOCC about “the effort to spearhead opposition by these folks on the (social network) Nextdoor app.”

“On that forum last week, the writer posted, ‘Get everybody you possibly can to attend (the BOCC meeting). The size of the crowd matters,’” Buchanan said. “As much as I respect the opinions of opposition represented here tonight, I struggle to find merit in that approach. You convened  this meeting to answer the question, does (the development plan) meet the seven very specific criteria in the LDC, and we have proven time after time that indeed it does. So I encourage you not to be swayed by a few citizens presenting absurdities, but factually and legally vote yes.”

Some speakers objected to Buchanan’s remarks regarding the irrelevance of their remarks.

“As far as ignoring the plea for crowds and opposition, how did women get the right to vote?” speaker Christine O’Brien said. “How did the civil right act happen? Crowds and opposition make changes that are important.”

Other speakers alluded to comments that were made to them in the hall by Buchanan. After addressing what she believed were violations of the LDC in the plans for the RV park, Beth Elliot told the BOCC the property owner had used vulgar language in an attempt to intimidate her in the hallway of BOCC chambers.

“Mr. Ben Buchman approached a group of four women very assertively,” Elliot said. “I am going to use the language … he said, ‘Do you want a titty bar or do you want a marijuana dispensary, because those are your choices.’ It was very threatening, it was very intimidating. The women were shocked and I think it was totally inappropriate.”

The BOCC did not reply to her comments.

Ruthellen Mulberg appealed to the commissioners’ duty to represent the citizens of the county.

“We are people,” Mulberg said. “We are not a bunch of articles in the code. You are our representatives. We are the community that is here. I understand development has to happen. This is absolutely not the right place for this kind of development. I ask you to consider who you are working for. Lawyers have specific ways of doing things. We are trying to act on our own out of our hearts. We cannot come up here and know what an engineer is going to know, but we know what is going on, where we live and how to live. I think your job, ultimately, as our representatives, is to take that into account. We are human beings, so are you, please don’t forget that.”

In the end, after hours of comments, some county commissioners shared why they supported, or did not support, the development plan. Commissioner Allyson McCullough said she has experience camping and driving an RV, and that children do not “run through the neighborhood” where RV parks are located, and those driving RVs are experienced and know how to handle the oversized vehicles.

“It is my job to represent Nassau County,” she said. “I have listened to constituents remind me that they voted for me. I swore an oath to abide by constitutional law, so I have emotions on this. I am the biggest anti-development person ever. This is the hardest decision I have had to make, but I had to go back to being sworn in and promising to abide by constitutional law.”

Commissioner John Martin explained his opposition to the park.

“I understand that technically, Ryan Road is considered a commercial district road, but common sense tells me it’s really residential,” Martin said. “I also think there’s a safety and maneuverability (problem) on Ryan and Sadler. I think there’s going to be problems with check-in and check-out staggering. Vacationers are going to have an impact.”

“I try to do the right thing,” Commissioner Jeff Gray said. “I also want to follow the code. I always have to look at private property rights. I take into consideration staff as well. It’s not easy. But I am going to try to apply the law the way I see it.”

A motion to deny approval of the development plan died for lack of a second. A motion to approve the plan passed 3-2, with Farmer and Martin casting the dissenting votes.

After the vote was cast, the crowd in BOCC chambers reacted vocally, with one woman shouting, “You whore,” although she did not say who she was addressing. Another person made an obscene gesture toward the BOCC. Farmer commented he was surprised and disappointed in the behavior.

“That is uncalled for,” Farmer said. “I thought better of my community than that. There’s been a couple of outbursts here tonight that are really embarrassing. I would never, ever do that. I have disagreed with these guys up here like you wouldn’t believe, but I have never stood there and gave people the finger. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t do that.”

jroberts@fbnewsleader.com