The Florida Department of Community Affairs said it has no objections to Franklin County removing two Future land use maps from its comprehensive plan so the board is now considering a public hearing on the issue later this year. Commissioners voted in July to begin the process of removing two land use maps which delineated areas east of Carrabelle where the St. Joe Company had planned to build about 3400 houses. The two land use maps were approved by the county and the state and were officially added to the county’s comprehensive plan in 2005. If the maps are deleted the property would revert back to agricultural zoning. At the time the future land use maps were approved, the US was going through a construction boom, and commissioners felt St. Joe would develop the land relatively quickly. The US economy has changed substantially since that time and now the commission feels repealing the future land use maps is necessary to protect Franklin County from a glut of buildable lots in the future. The St. Joe Company has said that if Franklin County follows through on its plan it could cost the county a lot of money. The company issued a letter in July saying they spent substantial sums planning the future of St. James Island and it feels the county will be liable for compensating the company for any losses. Commissioners say the actions they are taking now are uncharted waters but they do plan to move forward with a public hearing sometime in November. The board has also agreed to seek at attorney who has more experience on this issue to work with the county attorney.
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