Amelia Harvey was decorating cookies with her children in her St. Augustine home on Christmas Eve when there was a knock at the door.
It wasn’t a caroler, but a process server — delivering a subpoena requesting her communications about a proposed 3,332-home “Agrihood” development in St. Johns County.
Thirteen months after she spoke against the project at a public meeting, Harvey — a wife and mother who works at a local restaurant — was ordered to turn over her correspondence related to the Robinson Improvement Company application.
A red barn which is part of Freehold Communities ‘Agrihood’ Arden development in Palm Beach County, Florida. A similar project is proposed for St. Johns County. (Freehold Communities)
The demand included texts, voice mails and emails to both officials and neighbors alike, along with all of her social media posts.
“This behavior is abhorrent, and it is designed to scare people and punish anyone who dares to speak up,” Harvey told the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners during a meeting last week.
The deadline was Jan. 5, giving her 10 days over the holidays to gather the materials. Other residents who had spoken at county meetings said they were also served that day.
Zachary Miller, the Ponte Vedra Beach-based attorney representing the proposal, told The Citizen that the timing was purely coincidental.
He explained that he had provided the materials to the process server several weeks before Christmas and emphasized that the delivery date was not intentional on his part.
The legal action is part of Robinson Improvement Company’s ongoing federal lawsuit after the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners unanimously denied its rezoning request in November.
The proposed development, promoted by Freehold Communities, would remake 2,673 acres between County Roads 208 and 214 into a master-planned community blending residential neighborhoods with barns, working farms and event spaces — a concept branded as an “Agrihood.”
Robinson, whose family has owned the land for more than a century, contends the county acted arbitrarily and bowed to public pressure, despite long-range planning documents anticipating residential development.
Agrihood is back in play after the decision. (Freehold Communities)
Former Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Traynor, ruled in August that the county had impinged on the company’s property rights by denying rezoning, despite a 2019 comprehensive plan amendment designating the land for residential use.
Traynor’s decision was non-binding, but lends significant legal heft to Robinson’s ongoing lawsuit.
In court filings, Robinson suggested that opposition from residents — including retired architect Joseph McAnarney — may have unduly influenced commissioners who ignored established zoning guidance.
The company subpoenaed McAnarney seeking correspondence about his opposition, stating it wants to determine who he spoke with and whether elected officials relied on his arguments about traffic and planning policy.
Robinson asserts that the commission’s reasoning mirrored points raised by McAnarney — a regular speaker at public meetings — and others.
McAnarney, who has asked a federal judge to block the subpoena, told commissioners last week that he had a First Amendment right to express his opinions about the project.
“I am no superman, no master influencer, and no one above the law,” he said. “I’m just an individual who tried his best to do his homework and to present facts and personal opinions from his research.”
The St. Johns County Board of Commissioners. (SJC)
He said he hoped that the subpoenas would not chill speech moving forward, saying he hopes citizens “will not be intimidated to come forward and speak at any time of the future.”
Harvey said hesitated in speaking about her subpoena last week.
She said she anxiously sat in her car before last Tuesday’s meeting, even leaving the parking lot at one point, before returning to address the commission.
Subpoenas are routine in civil litigation, allowing parties to gather evidence relevant to their claims. Robinson maintains it is fully entitled to explore whether public pressure influenced the board’s denial.
But residents say the scope of the demands and the timing over Christmas felt punitive.
“If speaking up at a public hearing means a developer can subpoena your private life, nobody is going to come to these meetings anymore,” Harvey told commissioners.
St. Johns County Commissioners sometimes address matters raised during public comment periods, but none opted to do so last week after McAnarney and Harvey spoke.
