The Santa Rosa County Zoning Board approved landowner Ronald Kilpatrick’s request for conditional use zoning by a 7-1 vote to allow the development. Christian College To construct a university campus on 58 acres of land off the Chumukla Highway in Paes.
School, John Melvin Christian Collegeis a faith-based college with a heavy emphasis on religious studies and athletics. The land he sought for his complex is currently cropland.
David Angron Founded John Melvin University with his wife Jean Melvin Angron. Its name honors the memory of Gene Melvin’s brother, who died in a motorcycle accident when he was a college student in 2003. David Angron coached John Melvin in high school.
John Melvin Christian College has established a presence in Florida, including a facility leased from Full Sail University on eight acres in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park and its “Pensacola campus”, a leased space in a strip mall off West Spencer Field Road in Pace.
Angron said all classwork is done online, but the college provides physical space for its athletes to attend mandatory twice-weekly study hall and once-weekly chapel. Northwest Florida College serves about 150 students and the Winter Park location serves about 100 students, he said.
The founders of the college proposed to establish a physical campus with hostels, playgrounds and academic buildings at Pace.
He estimates that in five years John Melvin Christian College motion Will grow to 1,000 students and inject $14 to $18 million into the local economy through student spending, the payroll of an estimated 75 to 100 direct jobs, and event and visitor spending.
Angron said the 250-bed dormitory for student athletes will likely be the first building constructed on the Pace campus. Plans developed by the college call for classrooms, a gym/worship center, athletic facilities, and a wellness center.
He pledged at the March 12 zoning board meeting to work with someone in the community to ensure the college has as little impact as possible on the surrounding community.
“We want to make sure we do our part to keep this as positive as possible for the community,” he said.
If the Santa Rosa County Commission goes along with the board’s recommendation at its March 26 special rezoning meeting, Kilpatrick will sell its property to the John Melvin University System, which also operates a sister school known as John Melvin University, which opened its doors in Crowley, Louisiana, in 2022 and lists about 150 students in its current enrollment.
Several residents stood up to speak at the meeting on both sides of the permit issue before the vote to approve the conditional use request.
Most of the people protesting were residents of the area where the college campus was to be constructed in a time frame of eight to 10 years.
Robert and Donna Cash live on Three Oaks Lane, the street on which the complex borders its main entrance on Chumuckla Highway.
The Cash family moved to the rural area to live in a quiet rural setting and they fear that if the complex is built it will reduce road traffic, cause lighting problems and noise from sporting activities.
Three Oaks Lane is currently less traveled and is not equipped to handle increased traffic.
Angron said the college has no plans to use Three Oaks Lane. It was suggested that an entry/exit on that road could be established for use only in emergencies.
Those who spoke in support of the conditional use zoning praised the good work done for the community by the Christian College and the fact that Kilpatrick had refused to sell his property to builders wishing to bring high density residential development to the area.
Zoning Board Chairman Ed Carson cast the single vote against allowing the conditional use, citing that there is already uncontrolled development in the area where established infrastructure has failed to keep up with the growth.
“I can’t in good conscience support anything that would have any further impact on the people there,” he said.
The John Melvin University System has not yet received accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools. With that accreditation the school will be able to offer more degrees from religious studies and offer religion-based studies as well as “secular” degrees.
The John Melvin University System has received a conditional license through the Louisiana Board of Regents and through it is able to offer secular degrees including professional degrees in management, hospitality management, marketing, agribusiness management, and health care management. It also offers a master’s degree in health care management.
Through its College of Sport Sciences, John Melvin University offers degrees in sport management, pre-athletic training, sport psychology, and exercise science and fitness. Master’s degrees are offered in sports science, sports management, health and wellness, and sports psychology.
This article originally appeared on the Pensacola News Journal: John Melvin Christian College in Pace gets zoning approval
