Developer is taking legal action after St. Johns County denied planned rural development
Alexus Cleavenger
Wed, December 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM UTC
1 min read
After St. Johns County denied a development proposal to bring more than 200 homes to an area on County Road 214, the developer is challenging that decision in court.
The project, known as the Tocoi River Estates, has been in the works for years.
“This project was initially proposed in 2007,” developer Mohammad Alam said. “That point of time, it was approved.”
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But it never moved forward during that 18-year timeframe.
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“In 2008, the market crashed, so it never took off, and it got expired in 2016,” Alam said.
Alam said he reviewed the plans and asked the county to renew that same planned rural development, but this time the county denied the project.
“It’s not fair,” said Alam. “It should have been a straightforward approval.”
It’s a move that many neighbors in the area are in favor of.
“We don’t want to add that much traffic,” neighbor Jay Clark said. “It just would disrupt the agriculture aspect of this whole area.”
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The developer argued the project complies with the county requirements and preserves about 90% of the land as a reserve area and more than 99% of existing wetlands.
“It is the lowest density you can think of, preserving the rural characteristic of the area,” Alam said.
Neighbors said if the proposal comes back for reconsideration by county leaders, they will push back again.
“We will be around to fight it again if he does,” Clark said.
The county will have 30 days to respond in writing to the court order that was issued and explain why its denial should not be overturned.
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