By JOE LIGHT, The Times-Union
If a Coral Gables-based developer has his way, in a couple of decades, Baker County will have a new neighborhood with more than twice the population of the county's current largest city.
Adrian Development Group plans to build about 5,500 units on 3,100 acres of forest near the town of Glen St. Mary, north of U.S. Highway 90. The project would include a town center with retail space and more than a hundred acres devoted to industrial and commercial space.
The community, dubbed Cedar Creek, would be Baker's first "development of regional impact," according to the county planning department. DRIs generally include projects of great magnitude and require approval by several state and local agencies.
Adrian Development is also taking a bet uncommon to growth in Northeast Florida so far. Although builders have proposed several large neighborhoods north and south of Jacksonville, relatively little growth has occurred to the west.
County officials agree that the impact of Cedar Creek on Baker would be tremendous.
Its population will probably far exceed that of Baker's current largest, Macclenny, which in 2003 held about 4,400 people, according to the Baker County Chamber of Commerce. The chamber estimates that about 23,000 people reside in the entire county.
"It's going to impact everything," said county commissioner Julie Combs, whose district would include Cedar Creek. "Emergency services, schools, elderly affairs... It will impact every facet of county services."
Adrian Development chief operating officer Brian May said that the company is aware of those potential impacts. For now, the developer plans to set aside three sites for schools. Adrian Development will also be responsible for transportation infrastructure within the development.
Adrian Development met with county officials two weeks ago for a pre-application meeting before the company submits a DRI proposal. May estimates that it will take between 15 and 16 months to gain approval for the DRI and between two and two and a half years before site clearing begins.
The first houses could be built in about three years, but construction wouldn't be complete for about 15 years after the approvals.
Although county officials' initial reaction was encouraging, May said that with developments of this size, opponents may crop up during the approval process.
"People haven't seen development on this scale in Baker, so I'm sure some people will be concerned," he said.
"But what we're hearing is that most won't mind growth as long as it's respectful of the culture and history of the area."
County planning director Cathy Rhoden said that so far, most concerns seemed to surround impacts on schools and transportation, but that it was too early to know of all potential conflicts with the development and how those would be solved.
Baker County has seen proposals for other large developments that so far have not come to fruition. The Adar Corp. had proposed an 11,000-unit community on 3,650 acres. Now, the developer seems to be selling the land, said May and county officials. Company president Amram Adar did not return messages left at his office on Tuesday.
Webmaster: webmaster@woodstockbaker.com