In Yulee, Florida, a community of worried citizens has been actively participating in a series of meetings to express their opposition to transforming their rural landscapes into bustling construction sites for new housing developments.

The Board of County Commissioners, however, has dismissed these concerns, moving forward with plans for more subdivisions in Yulee. Meanwhile, the Paramount Adaptive Riding Center, a nonprofit organization, fears the adverse impact such developments could have on its thriving operations and serene environment.

Strategically located away from the hustle and bustle of State Road 200, the center is designed to provide a peaceful setting for individuals with disabilities and PTSD to benefit from horse therapy. Owner Krista Jurkovich is anxious about the implications of construction noise and traffic from the proposed addition of approximately 150 new homes on the ranch’s future.

“We built in the middle of forestry,” Jurkovich stated. “Everything surrounding us was timberland, and we thought we were kind of protected back here from future development.”

Raydient LLC purchased more than 3,000 acres completely surrounding the Paramount Adaptive Riding Center through Nassau County’s new initiative, the Timber to Tides Design Overlay.

The purpose of the program is to develop unused portions of the county along State Road 200 and the A1A corridor to grow the population and profits in areas where county officials see potential.

“We’re hoping Raydient steps up and proves they want to be a good neighbor, but we don’t have anything in writing,” Jurkovich said.

While the overlay does not automatically rezone any existing properties, Jurkovich’s dream of expanding her ranch to accommodate the waiting list of people needing therapeutic horses is nearly obsolete.

“We want to serve this community,” she said. “We don’t want to be pushed out. If this becomes a construction zone, some riders may say it’s no longer a benefit to them.”

For her current students, Jurkovich says the construction could have negative impacts, which she has addressed with the Board of County Commissioners several times.

“There’s a big safety aspect,” she said. “Horses don’t do well with lots of noise and activity. Our students, especially those on the autism spectrum or with PTSD, need this tranquil environment.”

The noises from construction, increased traffic taking over their current riding paths, and impacts to the environment will negatively affect both the horses and the riding students.

“It’s a tranquil environment that they can’t get somewhere else, and if that’s not here, then there’s always the possibility that people say, ‘This is not a benefit to me anymore,’” Jurkovich said. “They may not want to come to the middle of a construction zone, and then we lose clients we were able to help in the past.”

For now, the nonprofit and its supporters say they will keep fighting—for the land, for the horses, and for the people with special needs they serve.

If the state approves the project and the commissioners’ final vote is in favor of the development, Paramount Adaptive Riding Center will potentially have 150 homes built around its ranch.

“Please don’t rush this,” Jurkovich said. “There’s no hurry. If you can redraw the map and surround us with less intense zoning, that ensures we won’t be bordered by 150 houses.”

Jurkovich is also looking at grants under Florida’s Farmland Protection Program to try to preserve the areas around the center.