4 Community News
Ponte Vedra Recorder · October 22, 2015
Locals earn honors at dance competition
Dancers enjoyed a fabulous weekend
of competition and camaraderie at the
25th annual First Coast Classic and World
Masters competition, hosted at the Renaissance Hotel in St. Augustine. Students
from locally-based Dance Alday competed and came home with many accolades.
Janet Collins earned the Top Female
Newcomer Student as well as recognition as a runner up in her Dancers Cup
Circuit Newcomer Scholarships. JoAnn
DesMarais was recognized for making it
to finals in both her Smooth and Rhythm
Scholarships. Jovy Pagaoa was recognized among the top 20 students at the
competition. Edward James earned first
placement in all of his dances. Sally Sizemore, who returned to the dance floor
after missing time from foot surgery,
earned first place in all dances.Michiko
Black won both her Dancers Cup Scholarships in Latin and Ballroom, as well as
World Masters Standard and 10-Dance.
Rounding up the group from Dance Alday was Allan Alday, who placed fourth
in the Top Teacher category.
Dance Alday is a ballroom and Latin
dance studio in Ponte Vedra beach offering more than 45 years of combined
teaching experience. For more information about the studio and its team, visit
www.dancealday.com.
Photo provided by JoAnn DesMarais
Pictured left to right are Janet Collins, JoAnn DesMarais, Michiko Black, Allan Alday, Jovi Pagaoa, Megan Wallace and Sally Sizemore
COMMUNITY BRIEFS
Commissioners approve rezoning, bonus
for Roscoe Blvd. project
On Tuesday, the St. Johns County
Board of Commissioners heard a
request to rezone approximately five
acres of land from Open Rural (OR) to
Planned Unit Development (PUD) to
allow an eight lot, single-family residential subdivision, located on the east
side of North Roscoe Blvd., north of
Canal Blvd. and south of Solana Rd.,
along with an affordable housing bonus
petition to provide a minimum of four
affordable housing dwelling units in
the incorporated area of the City of St.
Augustine at 79 Masters Drive.
Gary Phillips, president of the Palm
Valley Community Association, voiced
concerns during the period of public
comment.
“It’s very difficult to be against affordable housing,” Phillips said. However,
he continued that the intent of the incentive was to have affordable housing
within the same property in question
– not a different part of the county. “We
think that this is a very slippery slope if
we approve this type of thing.”
The Planning and Zoning Agency
had recommended approval of the
Workforce/Affordable Housing Density
Bonus Petition and PUD 2015-05 with
a vote of 6-0 at the September 3, 2015
hearing. At the meeting Tuesday, the
board unanimously passed the bonus
petition and the rezoning request.
PVCA seeks new members
The Palm Valley Community Association (PVCA) has begun an ambitious
membership drive designed to engage
and mobilize residents throughout the
community around the goal of influencing public policy on quality of life
issues.
According to PVCA President, Garry
Phillips, “those who live in Palm Valley
enjoy a small town lifestyle. Like a small
town, residents are likely to run into
friends and neighbors any time they
visit the local grocery store, the post
office or the many retail shops in the
area. Palm Valley is also surrounded by
exceptional natural beauty with the Atlantic Ocean to the East, the Intracoastal
Waterway to the west and the unspoiled
Guana-Tolomato Preserve to the south.”
St. Johns County is growing at an
astonishing rate, Phillips said.
“According to the county’s own
figures, population grew 54 percent
between 2000 and 2010 and is projected
to grow another 33 percent in the next
ten years. And while it’s not widely
known, since 2011, the regulatory environment in Florida has become decidedly pro-developer,” Phillips said. “As
a result we expect most vacant land in
Palm Valley to be completely built-out
in just a few more years.”
Growth has begun to dramatically impact quality of life for residents of Palm
Valley said Brian Hurdis, Chairman of
the PVCA’s Growth & Roadway Management Committee added.
“Traffic congestion at key intersections has become an everyday occurrence,” Hurdis said.
“Traffic volume has picked up even on
the side streets as motorists try to avoid
the bottle-necks.”
According to an email from the
PVCA, the association believes that the
only effective way to influence government support for the necessary improvements will be through a unified
effort. To this end, the PVCA is contacting all Homeowner’s Associations in the
community to encourage their residents
to work with the grou