St. Johns County planners voted 4-2 on Friday, Sept. 18, to let Sims Trucking run up to 80 dump trucks a day down Water Plant Road for 30 months.

Seven residents opposed the plan, calling the roughly 22-foot-wide rural road too dangerous for heavy hauling. The St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency approved the request anyway, as first reported by St. Johns Citizen.

The agency granted a zoning variance and revised special use permit for a roughly 625-acre borrow pit at 2458 Water Plant Road, west of Interstate 95 near County Road 214. The decision could put as many as 160 truck trips a day on the road.

Sims Trucking had originally asked for up to 100 trucks a day over five years. Agency member Henry Green moved to cut both limits before voting yes.

"We are in desperate, desperate need of dirt in this county," Green said.

Green's motion added conditions: a school-bus waiting pad, improvements to the turning radius at Water Plant Road and County Road 214, and the reduced 30-month timeline.

The borrow pit previously used a haul road across neighboring property through agreements involving Weyerhaeuser and Rayonier. That access ended earlier in 2026 when Weyerhaeuser lost rights to the land, leaving Water Plant Road as the site's only connection to a public road.

One longtime Water Plant Road resident told the agency that existing trucks already force drivers onto the grass when passing. She questioned whether dump trucks could safely navigate the road. Another resident said she runs a beekeeping operation about 100 feet from the road and fears dust, emissions and vibration will harm her hives.

Garrett Sims, representing Sims Trucking, told the agency most of the company's dirt deliveries go to public projects such as schools, parks and roads. He acknowledged residents' concerns and pledged to address problems.

Agency member Judy Spiegel voted no, saying the operation did not belong beside homes. She said the truck volume would be horribly disruptive to residents' quality of life and pointed to the county code that requires borrow pit access from a larger road.

Approved conditions also include a 15 mph speed limit on Water Plant Road, AI-equipped cameras on all trucks and hauling hours limited to 7 to 5 p.m. Trucks cannot pass schools between 7 to 9 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m., according to the county hearing record.

The identity of the second dissenting voter was not available in public records reviewed for this article.

No appeal deadline or Board of County Commissioners review date had been announced as of Friday, Sept. 18.