ORANGE PARK – Peter Johnson resigned as chairman of the Orange Park Planning and Zoning Board amid controversy regarding a flyer spreading misinformation about the new proposed Orange Park Plaza project.

On March 5, the developer Provision Impact Ventures provided information to residents and media about the project to gauge public sentiment. Orange Park Plaza is a new development proposed to be built at Kingsley and Orange avenues. The Plaza is slated to have apartments, retail spaces and office spaces in addition to a three-story garage.

Among the invitees, there was a section of residents that were clearly opposed to the project.

The circulated flyer, which had information on the location of and the registration process for attending the presentation, also held the misinformation, which upset some of the residents.

The flyer, which names the Village Green Civic Association, made false claims stating that the new project would include HUD (Housing and Urban Developing) housing.

It is unclear who was the originator of the flyer that sparked the controversy and eventually led to Johnson’s resignation.

“It was corrected later,” said Dianne Miller, a leader in the Village Green Civic Association of the flyer. “It was corrected, and we went to the presentation. We met with Mr. Jacobson afterward.”

“I’m 99% sure that it [the flyer] wasn’t approved. I believe Shirley Johnson [publisher of the Village Green newsletter] wrote the flyer. I don’t know if she cleared it with anyone else,” said another member of the Civic Association, who wished to remain anonymous. “All of a sudden, it just showed up in our mailbox. Since then, I’ve contacted the town councilman and I let him know that the flyer wasn’t representative of the community in general.”

Orange Park Council Roland Mastandrea wrote to Johnson asking about a “letter” that he believed Johnson wrote to homeowners in village way.

“I spoke to three residents in the neighborhood who all had the wrong idea of what was going to take place on Wednesday and what would take place on the property on Kingsley. I know you know that I am a big community involvement person, but I do not want to have false statements being made that can result in many misunderstandings,” Mastandrea wrote.

Johnson seemed to blame his wife.

“First, let me say that I did not write the ‘letter.’ My wife, is the editor of the Village Green Civic Association newsletter and in agreement with the Association President, wrote a flier stating their concerns for this development,” said Johnson’s email.

Neither Peter or Shirley Johnson was available for comment.