Planning and Zoning Department:
Branan Field Plan
The Branan Field Plan is an innovative, smart-growth plan for the north
central part of the County between Orange Park and Middleburg. County
Commissioners realized in 1997 that the completion of Branan Field Road
through North Central Clay county to Jacksonville would transform this
sleepy, rural corner of the County into a growth magnet. It was obvious
that growth would also be spurred by Cecil Commerce Center, a former
military base-turned business park, located in fast-growing Westside
Jacksonville, just north of the Clay County line.
The County adopted a conceptual Sector Plan in 1998,
in June of 2003 adopted the Branan Field
Master Plan, and in May of 2004 adopted land development regulations for
the plan area. The process included over 30 public meetings and
hands-on workshops, aided by the participation of hundreds of citizens,
developers, and design professionals. Through this process Clay County
intends to avoid the trap of piecemeal development and sprawl. The plan
actually reduces the intensities and densities from the approved
Comprehensive Plan Map, and lays out a 25-year plan for future growth. The
plan for Branan Field creates a vision of how the County
will plan and manage growth in the area. To be financially feasible, the
Plan includes an Adequate Public Facilities component that sets aside land
for through roads, schools, parks, libraries, and fire protection
facilities.
The plan allows for approximately 11,600 new
dwelling units (approximately 4,630 dwelling units currently exist).
Multi-family developments will be allowed within the Activity and
Community Center land use districts, and also around Neighborhood Centers
within the Master Planned Community and Traditional Neighborhood
districts. Location and design of the Activity Centers was particularly
important in the process, as Clay County is trying to establish an
employment base to capture the 60% of its workers who commute to
Jacksonville every workday. Business district will be attractively designed
with an emphasis in landscaping, low signs, and architectural controls.
Three types of residential neighborhoods will be
established: rural residential areas containing between one dwelling unit
per five acres and one unit per acre; master-planned communities with an
overall gross density of three dwelling units per acre; and traditional
neighborhoods, with an overall gross density of five dwelling units per
acre. All developments will be designed to allow for ease of movement by
foot and bicycle to parks, schools, shopping, and work.
The County estimates that to accommodate the
anticipated population it will need roadways, and will
also need to pave 18 miles of existing dirt roads. Branan Field Road will
be expanded to include a four-lane limited access road, three new through,
a four-lane east service road, and a two-lane west service road.
Thirteen new schools
will be needed, along with a branch library, two fire stations, and over
500
acres of neighborhood, community and district parks. The Plan also
includes four million square feet of non-residential development, most of
which will be in the Activity Centers. The area
includes 4,640 acres of contiguous wetland systems, and
will connect many of these wetlands and adjacent uplands into a system of greenways known as
the Primary Conservation Network (PCN). The value of the PCN as an environmental
resource is found in the fact that it connects the 20,000-acre Jennings
State Forest to the west of Branan Field to the conservation lands of
Little Black Creek, located east of Branan Field. The environmental plan
calls for wildlife crossings and an environmental management plan for the
PCN.
Additional Information
Branan Field
Land Development Regulation (LDR's)
Branan
Field Land Use Map
Branan
Field Master Plan
