Community Development Districts (CDDs) in Florida represent a unique and impactful approach to community development. The Florida legislature authorized CDDs via Chapter 190 known as the “Uniform Community Development District Act of 1980.” Often considered an advantageous framework for both residents and developers, CDDs offer a distinctive framework for fostering high-quality communities with enriched living experiences.

Investing in Infrastructure and Amenities:

One of the primary benefits of CDDs lies in their ability to dedicate resources specifically to the community’s infrastructure and amenities. Imagine living in a vibrant neighborhood equipped with:

• Top-notch infrastructure: Well-maintained roads, efficient drainage systems, and reliable utilities form the foundation of any thriving community. CDDs prioritize such infrastructure advancements, ensuring a smooth and secure environment for residents.
• Enriching amenities: Parks with lush greenery and play areas, sparkling swimming pools, community centers buzzing with activity, and even recreational options like golf courses or fitness centers – these are just a few examples of the amenities that CDDs can bring to life.
• Preserving green spaces: Dedicated landscape maintenance services, meticulously maintained common areas, and proactive environmental conservation efforts contribute to a beautiful and sustainable living environment within CDD communities.

Empowering Resident Involvement:

Beyond the tangible benefits, CDDs offer residents a voice in shaping their community’s future. Through a democratically elected Board of Supervisors, residents directly participate in decision-making processes, ensuring that the community’s development aligns with their aspirations and needs. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, leading to a more engaged and vibrant community spirit.

Financial Considerations:

It’s essential to acknowledge that CDD communities come with an additional financial responsibility – namely, CDD fees. These fees contribute to the ongoing maintenance and development of the community’s infrastructure and amenities. While these fees may pose an initial consideration, it’s crucial to recognize the value they bring in terms of enhanced living conditions and potential property value appreciation.

Weighing the Advantages:

When considering a CDD community, it’s vital to do your research and carefully evaluate the specific benefits and costs associated with each district. However, for individuals seeking a community that prioritizes quality infrastructure, engaging amenities, and resident involvement, CDDs can present an advantageous pathway to an enriched and fulfilling living experience.

Remember, CDDs are not a “one-size-fits-all” solution, but rather a distinct option worthy of exploration for those seeking a community that invests in its future and empowers its residents.

Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding county CDDs include:

From our office in Atlantic Beach and satellites throughout Northeast Florida, Rockaway Inc proudly serves both commercial and residential landscape design,maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, and outdoor living carpentry client needs in Jacksonville, St Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns, and Fernandina Beach.

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1. Maintenance of Common Areas: HOAs typically manage and maintain common areas within a community, such as parks, pools, landscaping, and recreational facilities. In so doing, they support and enhance the overall appearance and value of the neighborhood.

2. Property Value Maintenance: By enforcing community standards and architectural guidelines, HOAs aim to maintain a consistent and aesthetically pleasing appearance throughout the neighborhood, contributing to higher property values over time.

3. Community Amenities: Many HOAs provide access to amenities like community centers, gyms, tennis courts, walking trails, and other recreational facilities. Homeowners can enjoy these amenities without having to maintain them individually.

4. Dispute Resolution: HOAs often have mechanisms to resolve disputes between neighbors, helping maintain a harmonious living environment, which can include addressing issues related to noise, pets, and property maintenance.

5. Enforcement of Rules and Regulations: HOAs establish and enforce community rules and regulations to ensure a certain standard of living. The rules can cover architectural guidelines, landscaping requirements, and other regulations contributing to the community’s well-being.

6. Social Community Building: HOAs also organize events and activities that encourage social interaction among residents, fostering a sense of community and connection among neighbors.

7. Financial Oversight: HOAs typically have fiduciary responsibilities managing dues they collect and budgeting for maintenance and improvement projects. This centralized financial management aims to benefit the association members.

8. Security and Safety: HOAs often invest in security measures, such as gated entrances, security patrols, and surveillance systems, to enhance the community’s safety.

9. Collective Bargaining Power: HOAs often negotiate with service providers for the entire community, potentially securing better rates for services like landscaping, trash removal, and security.

10. Consistent Neighborhood Appearance: HOAs can help ensure a consistent aesthetic by establishing design guidelines for exterior modifications, landscaping, and other visual aspects contributing to a cohesive and attractive neighborhood.

Regardless of these ten benefits of HOAs it’s important to note that the effectiveness of an HOA, as with any other governing body, depends on its management and community support for the rules it creates and enforces. ‘The additional cost of an HOA might be a deterrent to some, but 57% of HOA members say it has made their lives easier,’ according to Forbes. “Exterior maintenance could be the biggest contributing factor. According to our survey, dues primarily go to neighborhood landscaping (64%) followed by security (44%), personal landscaping (34%) and sports and leisure amenities (31%). The same study examined causes for residential disatifaction. “Landscaping issues (34%) are the major contributing factor, followed by design changes (23%) and fencing (23%),” according to Forbes.

It’s advisable to carefully review the HOA rules and bylaws before purchasing a property in a community with an HOA to ensure your alignment with their preferences and lifestyle. Our team at Rockaway Sustainable Landscaping is experienced and successful at working with HOA boards seeking to improve their associations’ landscape maintenance and on behalf of individual association members seeking approval for their landscape projects from their HOA boards.  

At Rockaway we strive educate our staff and you on what they need to know as with our article providing the latest news including Florida HOA Laws Update 2024: What You Need to Know!

From our office in Atlantic Beach and satellites throughout Northeast Florida, Rockaway Inc. your outdoor living experts proudly serves both commercial and residential landscape design, maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, and outdoor living carpentry client needs in Jacksonville, St Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns, and Fernandina Beach.

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Our landscape design team includes:
Brian Burghardt, Rockaway Vice President

• Rutgers University, B.S. Environmental Planning & Landscape Design, Plant Science.

Kathleen Burson, Rockaway ASLA Landscape Architect/ Lead Designer

• California State Polytechnic University Pomona graduate.

David Holloway, Rockaway Landscape Designer

• B.S. Degree in Microbiology/Chemistry.
• Virginia Nurseryman certification.
• Registered Pesticide Technician.

Zach Fuchs, Rockaway Landscape Designer/Estimator

• Penn State graduate B.S. degree in Landscape Contracting Design/Build.

Furthermore, Greg Burghardt, RockawaTwo workers in bright vests plant flowers in front of a large house.ys’ president, and Brian grew up in the green industry, working in the family garden center and tree farms. Greg is a graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in Plant Science. Before establishing Rockaway Greg and Brian’s career experience included work for Davey Tree Company and ValleyCrest Landscape companies (before Brickman and ValleyCrest merged to form BrightView).

Rockaway is well positioned as a leader in providing Jacksonville landscape design services, considering the Burghardt brothers’ experience and the team they’ve developed for landscape design, installation, and maintenance in both the residential and commercial market sectors.

After a consultation, your landscape architect or designer will develop a design plan to suit your needs, ranging from a hand drawing for a landscape refresh to a CAD architectural drawing to submit for HOA and permitting department approvals. As full-service residential landscapers, Rockaway offers tear-outs of existing landscapes, grading, a full complement of plant options suitable for our climate, maintenance, hardscaping, irrigation, drainage, lighting, water features, custom outdoor carpentry such as decks, fences, pergolas, arbors, and more. If you can dream it we can build and install it!

Rockaway’s courteous and professional landscapers will install your design plan, communicating directly with you onsite, by telephone, and by email during critical installation phases. Then, each day before leaving your property, the landscapers will clean up the area where they’ve been working, including the street around their work vehicles. During each day of the installation process, the landscape foreman will provide you an emailed report with written descriptions and photos of their progress, along with an action plan as they work towards project completion. During installation your landscape architect or designer will also be coordinating with you and the landscape foreman, making periodic site visits throughout the installation and after to walk through the finished project with you. We are committed to and pride ourselves on good communication throughout our working relationship to ensure your satisfaction with your landscape investment.

From our office in Atlantic Beach and satellites throughout Northeast Florida, Rockaway Inc proudly serves both commercial and residential landscape design, maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, and outdoor living carpentry client needs in Jacksonville, St Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns, and Fernandina Beach.

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2. Enhanced nutrient management: Agronomics involves implementing precise nutrient management strategies. Agronomics principles include applying the right amount of nutrients at the right time, promoting optimal plant growth, and minimizing nutrient runoff and waste.

3. Effective pest and weed management: Agronomics includes integrated pest management strategies that prioritize preventive measures and use targeted treatments when necessary. This reduces reliance on synthetic pesticides, which can harm the environment and human health.

4. Water conservation: Agronomic practices include implementing water-efficient irrigation systems and scheduling irrigation based on plant needs and, in so doing, conserving water resources, reducing water usage and costs while maintaining healthy turf.

5. Cost savings: By utilizing agronomic principles within our landscape maintenance practices, we minimize input costs by optimizing resource use, such as reducing fertilizer and pesticide applications. This leads to cost savings without compromising the lawn care services’ quality.

6. Environmental sustainability: Agronomics promotes sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. By adopting these agronomic practices, we demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship, which clients and communities increasingly value.

By incorporating sustainable agronomic services into your landscape maintenance and lawn care regimen, you save money in the long run and have a healthier, more aesthetically pleasing lawn with reduced environmental impact.

From our office in Atlantic Beach and satellites throughout Northeast Florida, Rockaway Inc proudly serves both commercial and residential landscape design, maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, and outdoor living carpentry client needs in Jacksonville, St Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns, and Fernandina Beach.

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”When we design a landscape, we are thinking of long term not just in a year, two years, or three years from now, we’re thinking 5, 10, 15 years down the road,” Fuch said. What is this landscape going to look like? It might look great now, but without the proper maintenance and care things can get out of hand really quickly. From a maintenance standpoint, some plants work better than others.” It is important to work with a design team with a strong understanding of the suitability of plants for your landscape design. ”Some site conditions to keep in mind when selecting landscape plants include: light availability, intensity and duration (full sun to deep shade) water availability, both quantity and quality. exposure to wind and temperature extremes,” according to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. ”Choosing the “”right plant for the right place”” is an important consideration for all types of landscaping. Ignoring this guideline may lead to increased maintenance, a failure of plants to thrive, and sometimes the death of installed plant material.”

At Rockaway, we work with clients with different tastes in plant material, providing plans that range from xeriscaped to lush tropical designs. ‘Do they want a landscape that’s a little bit higher maintenance and has more detail to it, or do they want something that’s a little bit more simple, more wavy naturalized? Fuch asked. ”We can do either of those depending on what you as the individual want.” The expertise and experience of our landscape architect and design team are here to serve you.

”Landscape designers work on a canvas that is distinctly different from other art forms,” according to the University of Florida. ”The “”art”” is always changing as the plants grow, environmental conditions change, and people use the space. For this reason, landscape designers use a design process that systematically considers all aspects of the land, the environment, the growing plants, and the needs of the user to ensure a visually pleasing, functional, and ecologically healthy design.”

At Rockaway, we are committed to responsive and convenient expertise tailored to your needs. ”As a salesperson at Rockaway, we want to do what we can to make to make you happy, whether it be finding the materials that we may need to ship out from somewhere like California or making that extra call just to make sure that you understand what we are doing and just to make sure that you feel comfortable before we move on to the next steps,” Fuchs said. ”We want you to feel comfortable. This is a huge investment not only for you as a person, but for the community, and we want to make sure that we do everything that we can to hit that bar. And we always want to hit that bar here.”

From our office in Atlantic Beach and satellites throughout Northeast Florida, Rockaway Inc proudly serves both commercial and residential landscape design, maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, and outdoor living carpentry client needs in Jacksonville, St Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns, and Fernandina Beach.

The post Providing Sustainable Landscape Design in Northeast Florida appeared first on Rockaway Sustainable Landscaping.

Watering

As of 2018, the SJRWM District, Duval County, St. John’s County and the Beaches Municipalities allow you to water your new landscape with an irrigation system every day for 30 days, and then every other day for the next 30 days as long as you do so between 4:00PM and 10:00AM. Hand watering and low volume watering (such as drip, micro-irrigation and soaker hoses) are permitted at any time. Watering is best done in the morning to avoid fungal problems.

In general, most plants need to be watered every day for 2-4 weeks after planting. A good general post-planting watering schedule is as follows: week 1 and 2 every day, week 3 and 4 every other day, week 5 and 6 every third day, then 2 times per week or what is allowed by law.Fall/Winter plantings usually don’t require as much water as summer plantings and can receive water in weeks 1 and 2 every other day, weeks 3 and 4 every third day, weeks 5 and 6 twice weekly then once weekly or what is allowed by law.

If you are going to rely on irrigation systems, please make sure all plants are receiving adequate coverage. The spray/pop-up zones should be set for at least 15-25 minutes per cycle and rotor zones should be set for 45-60 minutes. These are guidelines. Both duration and frequency of watering depend on site specifics such as sun and wind exposure, current rainfall, weather patterns and whether the site is naturally wet or dry. We will be happy to help you determine adjustments. We also suggest that even those who rely on irrigation for most of their watering needs should try to hand water new plantings at least once or twice a week for the first month. This ensures that you will notice any decline, water deficiencies or stresses in the plant material before it is too late.

Staking

Large trees and shrubs (15 gal and over) should be given water by hand supplemental to the irrigation system. A good rule of thumb is to give the plant the amount of water equivalent to approximately half the pot size (i.e. 5-7 gal for a 15 gal tree). The need for this watering can also be met by installing a bubbler on individual trees, which can be done by Rockaway at your request for an additional charge.

If your plants/trees required support, Rockaway installed it at the time of planting. Most trees should remain staked for at least 6 months, depending on their size, rate of growth and the current season. Your Rockaway designer or installers will provide you with information regarding proper timing of removal, which is usually within 1 year.

Feeding

In general most plants benefit from regular applications of plant food. Feb/March, May and September are great months to feed most plants. Others require specific types of food in certain seasons or at regular intervals. For instance, citrus should be fed with citrus food at least four times a year between March and October, depending on the age of the tree. Azaleas, camellias and gardenias also benefit from specific foods with high acid content usually during the growing season. Rockaway uses compost and/or planting mix and organic fertilizer when planting. No additional fertilization should be needed within the first month. Roses are the only exception to this rule and will benefit from a liquid fertilization about two weeks after installation. We have separate care handouts for both citrus and roses.

Pruning

Most new plantings should not be pruned for at least one month after planting. Any exceptions to this will be discussed with you by your Rockaway designer or installer.

Cold Tolerance

Rockaway tries to utilize only cold hardy plants in our installations. Sometimes to achieve the desired effect or due to client request, tropical or half-hardy plants are used. These plants, such as crotons, hibiscus, and Ti plants, benefit from the application of frost cloth or blankets when the temperature is forecast to drop below 32 degrees for more than 4 hours. Young citrus trees also benefit from being covered during a freeze. Some plants, although hardy, do tend to get brown leaves after a frost. Commonly used plants that will die back and return after a hard freeze are variegated flax lily and variegated ginger. These plants should be trimmed back only after the last chance of frost has passed. If cut back too early, the plant can be stimulated to grow during one of our winter’s frequent mild spells, only to be hit by frost again—which can lead to death of the plant.

Gardening success depends on many factors and problems can arise unique to your situation. Guidelines can be open to interpretation. If you need additional information or assistance, please contact us at (904) 853-6572 and we would be happy to help.

From our office in Atlantic Beach and satellites throughout Northeast Florida, Rockaway Inc proudly serves both commercial and residential landscape design, maintenance, lawn care, irrigation, and outdoor living carpentry client needs in Jacksonville, St Augustine, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, St. Johns, and Fernandina Beach.

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