Jon DePreter
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Jon DePreter
Experienced and Ready to Serve
City of St. Augustine City Seat 1
My experience helps to produce real results for residents
I believe in an evidence-based collaborative approach that produces real results for residents. My term as President of the Lighthouse Park Association included leading the neighborhood through rezoning the Lighthouse, creating the Maria Andreau Conservation Area, and a safer pickup and drop-off protocol at RB Hunt School.
As a planning board member for six years, I have been part of over 400 reviews of applications that range from variances, uses by exception, conservation development, and rezoning while also being involved with the adoption of our new 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the newly adopted Mobility Plan, and the new Parking Code updates. Given my planning experience and my track record of advocating for the residents, I think I am uniquely qualified to match residents’ concerns with potential long-range planning so we can improve the quality of life for our current and future residents.
I strive to solve major city challenges through a collaborative, evidence-based approach.
St. Augustine’s rapid growth brings challenges and opportunities for its residents and businesses.
Small Town versus Big City
For many of us full-time residents, St. Augustine can sometimes seem like a small town. We see each other daily in our neighborhoods, recreation areas, workplaces, children’s schools, and sporting events. However, given the 6.5 million visitors we share our City with annually (that doesn’t even include county day trippers), we cannot escape the problems of a Big City. Simple math tells us that many days, our city has more visitors than residents who live here. Acknowledging this fact helps us realize we need long-term planning and actions to protect our quality of life from the excesses of our visitors.
Businesses
Given the vast number of tourists that visit our City every year, it is no surprise that St. Augustine hosts many businesses. From my experience on the Planning Board, I know many of those businesses are locally owned and operated, sometimes by young families raising children.
Although many businesses directly serve tourists, peripheral businesses profit from any business enhancement, such as real estate brokers, construction trade workers, landscapers, etc., and businesses like Solar Stik and FishBites that service a larger area.
We need to support our local entrepreneurs and especially encourage small-scale businesses on commercial corridors that directly serve our residents in the outlying neighborhoods so residents can eat, dine, shop, and work closer to home.
THE ONLY TIME TO ACT IS NOW
Protecting and conserving our natural and environmental resources.
Our City and surrounding areas have an incredible natural setting that offers a beautiful backdrop to our daily lives. I know firsthand that our residents highly value our natural resources, as evidenced by the public hearings conducted during the Fish Island and Florida Avenue PZB applications.
Protecting our Clean Water
A major component of sustaining our marine resources is clean water, which has ties to public health, our local economy, recreational activities, and animal habitats. St. Augustine is currently known for having relatively clean water compared to other Cities in Florida. Still, recent testing has indicated that our water quality is slowly degrading due to the introduction of excessive nutrients and fecal matter. It would be more cost-effective to address this problem before it worsens, and I would work with local research agencies and stakeholders to find solutions to this problem.
Conserving our Sensitive Wetlands
Another component of protecting our environment is identifying and protecting sensitive uplands and wetlands from development. As the Lighthouse Park Neighborhood President, I worked with residents to create the Maria Andreu Conservation Area at the north end of the RB Hunt soccer fields. I would also like to applaud Commissioner Blonder for spearheading the project and the City Commission for approving a new program to purchase sensitive lands and put them into conservation. I will continue to support efforts to protect our natural environment for future generations and encourage responsible and sustainable development in sensitive areas that can not be purchased.
Preserve the Past for the Future
Our Unique Historic City
Our beautiful and historic town, with its Old World charm, is a source of civic and aesthetic pride for all the residents of St. Augustine. I like to remind myself that much of what we see today is due to the preservation work of former generations. An entire network of past and present elected officials, City staff, nonprofits, businesses, volunteer boards, and passionate residents are largely responsible for preserving what we see today.
I will continue the effort to preserve the unique historic character of St. Augustine for future generations by encouraging grant writing, supporting incentives for property owners, encouraging responsible public-private partnerships, working to build new partnerships, and educating our residents and visitors on the unique history of St. Augustine.
