Golf courses in Florida state parks?
US Congressman Brian Mast speaks about golf course proposals at Jonathan Dickinson State Park
I’ve never had a special license plate before, but I recently decided to get one of the Florida plates that feature the tip of a red kayak going down a river, a turtle on a log, a heron in flight, and the sun rising or setting in the distance.
“Discover our state parks,” it says.
I got this sign, which reminds me of some of my favorite places in Florida, to support our state parks. I didn’t get it to support state hotels and golf courses. We have plenty of those outside the park.
But now it starts again.
The State of Florida likes to brag that we have the best state parks in America, that our 175 parks attract nearly 30 million visitors and have billions of dollars in economic impact, that our state parks system consistently wins national awards, and that, as the slogan goes, we preserve the “real Florida.”
But you know what they say: If it ain’t broke, tear it down to make room for golf courses, pickleball courts, and 350-room hotels.
Sorry, I know I’m basically repeating what I said years ago after then-Governor Rick Scott kept looking at our state parks and imagining ways to make more money from land that was just there, all natural, with mature trees and water and wildlife. Particularly memorable was his vision of fairways and sand traps, new golf courses in every corner of a state that already had the most golf courses in America.
That didn’t happen. It turns out that the idea didn’t sit well with people who were already trying to run golf courses – or with Floridians in general.
But now it starts again.
This time, it is Governor Ron DeSantis who wants to rush through dramatic changes in nine state parks. This includes the inclusion of Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine and the construction of pickleball courts and a disc golf course, as well as a large hotel in the maritime hammock near the sea.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced the plan on Monday – well, some of the plan – with a press release about the launch of the Great Outdoors Initiative to “improve public access, recreation and overnight accommodations” in Florida’s state parks.
Public meetings were scheduled across the state for next week, eight of them all at the same conveniently inconvenient time (Tuesday at 3 p.m.). According to a leaked memo, the Parks Planning Department was instructed to play pre-recorded presentations at those meetings, take feedback and not take questions – setting the stage for approval next month.
Judging by the reactions so far, it may not be that easy.
When the news first broke—and a long list of groups across the state quickly began to vehemently oppose it—people kept sending me details. And I kept thinking two things about the proposal: A) it sounds very familiar, and B) it was a bad idea before and it still is now.
Let’s start with golf courses. This is a particularly bad idea — both because you need so much land to build a golf course and because Florida is not exactly short of golf courses. Even after a period in which more golf courses have closed than opened, there are still over 1,200 courses, many of them open to the public.
In 2011, Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County was one of the places where the state wanted to build a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course. That didn’t happen then. It’s still a beautiful, sprawling park that protects one of the largest contiguous natural areas in southeast Florida. But this proposal calls for building two 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course on over 1,000 acres – a place with nearly 50 golf courses within a 20-mile radius.
Under this proposal, other state parks would also get new pickleball courts. Because it’s really hard to find pickleball courts in Florida, isn’t it? According to pickleheads.com, more than 5,000 courts have sprung up across the state since the sport became so popular.
Pickleball courts may take up less space than a golf course, but they offer something more important than their size: sound.
The New York Times recently published an article with the headline: “Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Crazy.”
So it’s one thing to introduce this technology in a city park or country club next to the tennis courts. But to introduce it in state parks?
Visit Florida’s state parks and listen to the chirping of birds, the rustling of trees, the crashing of waves, and—coming soon!—the pop-pop-pop of pickleball.
And then there are the “lodges” – an old-fashioned word that does not in the least disguise what is being proposed here.
A “lodge” that is larger than many hotels
I have said before that I would like to see more cabins built in some of our state parks, so it would be hypocritical of me to say that I am against it any Accommodation.
But this isn’t just accommodation. To put 350 rooms in perspective, just south of Anastasia State Park there is an Embassy Suites with 217 suites. A little further south there is a Hampton Inn with 100 rooms.
It’s not about adding a few cabins or small lodges. It’s about adding one of the larger oceanfront hotels/lodges in Northeast Florida. And it’s not just about size. It’s about location.
Could an oceanfront “lodge” at Anastasia State Park be quite popular? Absolutely. So why stop there? How about Talbot Islands State Parks? Sure, there’s plenty of lodging up the road on Amelia Island. But perhaps the future could include a large hotel where there are now “ancient dunes, pristine beaches and a secluded barrier island,” according to the Florida State Parks website.
That’s another reason why this proposal is a bad idea. It sets a terrible precedent.
Even Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis spoke of a “slippery slope” – and was thus part of what by the end of the week culminated in a remarkable wave of bipartisan backlash.
Small dot on the map hides big impact
In 2017, I wrote a column about a walk on Anastasia Beach with Chris Farrell of Audubon’s Northeast Florida office. He wanted to show me that this summer, Anastasia was home to the largest colony of little terns—a bird whose population has declined nearly 90 percent over the past 50 years—that we’ve had in the area in years.
When I heard from Farrell this week, it was because Audubon was among those raising the alarm about the threats to state parks and to Anastasia in particular.
On Audubon’s thoughts and concerns: “Displacing the maritime hammock population – an endangered habitat that provides food for native and migratory songbirds – for pickleball courts and a massive lodge is irresponsible.”
He pointed out that the rudimentary maps show the possible location of the lodge within the southern stand of maritime hammock – and that this same maritime hammock is described in the “Significance of the Park” section of the park’s management plan as “one of the largest contiguous stands of the globally rare maritime hammock along the east coast of Florida.”
And although there is a point on the map that shows where the lodge could be located, it does not give an idea of the full extent of the construction work.
“The small dot on the map hides the real impact of the proposal,” he said.
He noted that this doesn’t make sense when there are thousands of hotel rooms near the park and two pickleball courts across the street. He said it’s not clear what the rationale behind these proposals is, “but they certainly aren’t based on local needs.”
The citizens of Florida have again made their voices heard
When it comes to Anastasia State Park, it doesn’t get much more local than the Surf Station.
In 1984, Tory Strange opened the surf shop in an Amaco station, conveniently located near the park entrance.
He often said that this location was one of the keys to his company’s success.
Now that the Surf Station is celebrating its 40th anniversary next weekend, he can sell his stuff all over the world via the Internet. But the location is still good. And a big hotel in the state park could probably bring in more local business. Not that Strange sees it that way.
He is among the locals who are quite upset about the proposal.
“This isn’t about being against golf courses, hotels or pickleball,” he said. “It’s about protecting our limited natural environment.”
That was his initially reaction. And I thought that summed things up well. But a little later he said he wanted to add something stronger, which I think sums up how angry some people are about it.
“At the meeting that is going to be held on this issue, the people who are proposing this had better back down and make fundamental changes to these radical proposals,” he said, adding that they would be voted out of office if they did not. “I predict that is what will happen if the destruction of our state parks is pushed through against the opposition of the citizens. The vast majority of people are against major construction projects in our state parks.”
So what can you do if you are one of the opponents?
The same thing Floridians have done in the past. Contact your state representatives. Sign the petitions. Show up to the meetings.
In 2011, state lawmakers quickly withdrew their bills on the proposed golf courses after being inundated with calls, letters and emails. Then-Representative Patrick Rooney Jr. said, “The people of Florida have made their voices heard very clearly.”
Many people have once again expressed themselves very clearly.
The question now is whether this governor – and the state organization that bears the name “environmental protection” – will actually listen.
(904) 359-4212
MEETING AT ANASTASIA STATE PARK
When: Tuesday, August 27, 3–4 p.m.
Where: First Coast Technical College – The Character Counts Conference Center, Building C – 2980 Collins Ave, St. Augustine, FL 32084
