GREEN COVE SPRINSG – A would-be controversy about the future of Shedd Road found itself resolved by residents and an incoming developer’s lawyer just 20 minutes before the Nov. 27 Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Shedd Road, which is all dirt, is used by less than 100 residents, but for hundreds of other drivers, it’s a speedy shortcut from U.S. Highway 17 to County Road 315C. The road – the site of accidents and speeding tickets – has an s-shaped curve that draws young drivers and would-be thrill seekers. However, under a new compromise agreed upon Nov. 27, the road will be getting signs warning drivers of a dead end and a new gate erected to prevent future shortcuts and shenanigans.

“Just prior to our hearing tonight, there are a number of Shedd Road residents here and we had a good meeting outside and we’ve come up with something that we think satisfies them, is fine with us, and we hope the county will go along with it,” said Frank Miller, a lawyer for homebuilder D.R. Horton, which is developing a 403-home community on land that touches Shedd Road.

“What we’re proposing it, rather than making that little strip there a public road, is that it simply be a piece that we will convey to an association created by the Shedd Road folks,” Miller said. “They will own it...the developer will put a farm gate across it which will mean that the folks on Shedd Road will have a key to cross through that gate to go west, but the people in the subdivision and the folks on 315...will not be able to go east on Shedd Road to 17.”

According to Katie Marcyes, a Shedd Road resident who spoke on behalf of the other residents, without this gate, Shedd Road would see itself further deteriorated beyond its current state. She said already that it is one of the worst dirt roads in Clay County with just the residents driving on it and that if the potential 400-plus drivers coming from the incoming housing development, which will be known as Willow Springs, used the road, it could fall into disrepair.

The Board of County Commissioners agreed to the gate solution, but Chairman Mike Cella was concerned with the number of exits that would be left by closing off Shedd Road. With the gate stopping Willow Springs residents from getting to U.S. 17 via Shedd Road, they’ll only have one exit, which is what Cella found himself concerned with. According to Miller though, Willow Springs will not hit the threshold that requires more than one exit.

Marcyes said that although the gate serves as a great solution, Shedd Road residents are still unhappy about Willow Springs but understand that at this point, there is nothing they can do about it.

When it came time for a motion, the BCC approved a motion to rezone the Willow Springs’ Planned Urban Development from rural residential to rural fringe with the private fence for Shedd Road residents with a 5-0 vote.