After drawing strong opposition statewide, including in St. Johns County, a plan by the state Department of Environmental Protection to “enhance public access, recreation and lodging at state parks” has been shelved.
At the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis and following feedback from the public, the DEP has withdrawn all remaining proposed amendments to state parks, according to a spokeswoman for the department. The DEP will now shift to discussions with local park managers. It will revisit park improvements next year, if needed, according to DEP.
In support of the state’s “Great Outdoors Initiative,” the DEP had reported that it wanted to develop a park lodge with a capacity of up to 350 rooms, four pickleball courts and a disc golf course within the park, mostly in areas now in an undeveloped, natural state. The lodge would have been the second-largest hotel in the county.
The DEP had scheduled public meetings for Tuesday, Aug. 27, at eight sites across the state, each focused on a different park and the specific developments planned there.
The plans drew criticism statewide. On Friday, Aug. 23, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and 13 others sent a letter to DeSantis and the DEP’s Acquisition and Restoration Council to protest plans for three golf courses within Martin County’s Jonathan Dickinson State Park and what they saw as limitations on the proposed public meeting there.
Locally, hundreds of residents lined State Road A1A at the entrance to Anastasia State Park to protest proposals concerning the park.
On Friday, Aug. 23, the DEP canceled the meetings, citing “overwhelming interest” and a need to find venues that would better accommodate the public.
On X, the DEP initially suggested that new meeting dates would be scheduled for September, but that is no longer the case.
During an event Wednesday, Aug. 28, in Winter Haven, DeSantis addressed the issue.
“This is something that was leaked,” he said. “It was not approved by me. I never saw that. They’re going back to the drawing board, talk to your local communities. Here’s the thing: I’d rather not spend any money on this. If people don’t want improvements, then don’t do it.”
Calling the idea to develop facilities for pickleball, disc golf and golf, as well as lodging at the state parks “half-baked” and “not ready for prime time,” DeSantis said nothing would be done this year.
He claimed the news was leaked to an unnamed “left-wing group” in order to “create a narrative.”
He added that, if no improvements are needed, “we’re not going to take away any green space.”
The same day, leaders from Northeast Florida gathered for a press conference at Embassy Suites by Hilton St. Augustine Beach Oceanfront Resort to express their opposition to the project.
County Commission Chair Sarah Arnold called the project “an egregious overreach of state government, a plan that sought no local input whatsoever with public meetings that were hastily scheduled and just as hastily canceled.”
“They seem to appear to be a farce,” she said. “Pre-recorded presentations with no Q&A and no public comment. I want our residents to know that this rollout doesn’t just feel like a done deal for them; it feels like a done deal for us.”
She said she had never seen an issue that has galvanized “a community, a region or an entire state” the way this one had.
“The local tourism economy is highly dependent on cultural resources, natural resources and our scenic beauty,” said state Rep. Cyndi Stevenson. “That’s what people come here for. They don’t come for the high-density development. They come here because we aren’t the high-density development.”
Others attending the press conference included City of St. Augustine Beach Mayor Dylan Rumrell and City of Jacksonville Councilman Rory Diamond.
