NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — The owner of a 50-acre piece of untouched property on Amelia Island and a few separate community groups may be in court for the last time next week.
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The judge in the case between Riverstone Properties, the Amelia Tree Conservancy, the Amelia Island’s Citizens Against Runaway Development group, and The Sanctuary on Amelia Island is allowing a motion for a “summary judgment” next Thursday, meaning the case could end without a trial.
The community groups first took Riverstone Properties, the Virginia-based owner of the 50-acre property between Amelia Island State Park and the beach at the southern end of the island, to court back in 2023 after Nassau County commissioners settled with the company to allow 11 85-foot towers of condos to be built on the property. The county’s development code previously only allowed for 35-foot buildings to be built there.
After years of back-and-forth hearings in court, some neighbors are just hoping the property is left as it is.
“These trees are hundreds of years old, we can’t get that back,” said Sheila Cocchi, who has been living in Fernandina Beach for the last 10 years.
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Action News Jax called Riverstone Properties to learn more about its goal of having the condo towers put on its property, and we were told we would receive a call back. We have yet to receive that call.
Neighbors like Cocchi are not opposed to seeing more condos and apartments in the county but think this piece of property should be protected.
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“If they want to see towers and not be able to see the beach, go to Destin, go to Panama City, go to Ft. Lauderdale, where you can’t even see. This is not the place,” Cocchi said.
The next court hearing for this case is scheduled for next Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Nassau County Courthouse.
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