Photo by: Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park
The plan to add new amenities such as golf courses and pickleball courts to some of Florida’s state parks has not yet been canceled, but after mostly negative feedback from the public and opposition from Florida’s two U.S. senators, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has postponed public meetings and created a website where the public can provide feedback.
Eight meetings were scheduled for Tuesday, August 27, at various locations across the state, but that changed Friday when FDEP said in a post on X.com that new meeting dates would be announced for the week of September 2.
Link to public feedback on the FDEP plans
Statement from Florida Senators and Legislators
Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, U.S. Representative Brian Mast, and several Florida lawmakers issued a strongly worded statement calling on “Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the board members of the Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) to hold more extensive public hearings so that Floridians and stakeholders can voice their opinions on a recent proposal to allow the construction of golf courses and hotels in Florida’s state parks. Senator Scott calls on the state to also hold extensive public hearings, with the ARC participating, so that communities affected by this proposal can fully understand its potential impacts.”
The public reaction
There is currently a petition on Change.org with over 60,000 signatures calling for the planes to be scuttled for a golf course in Jonathon Dixon State Park. “The amount of development in the area for these golf courses would not only destroy the habitat directly where the golf courses are being built, but also the surrounding environment,” the petition states. “Fertilizer runoff, parking lots, clubhouses and bathrooms – all things that go with golf courses. Add to that foot traffic and golf carts that disturb endangered native wildlife like gopher tortoises and the Florida Scrub Lizard. Florida Scrub habitat is the most endangered in the state with only 10-15% of the original environment remaining.”
“It’s frustrating to say the least,” Ted Verbockel, a farmer in the Jupiter Farms area, recently told WPTV. “It’s just an incredibly beautiful place, you see everything, birds, turtles, lizards. We obviously don’t need three golf courses here, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
The Facebook group “Florida State Parks” also expressed almost entirely negative views on the plans.
“I can’t put a campground on my private property, but you can put a resort and a golf course on protected state land. There’s something wrong with the law in my state,” Terri Readdy told the group.
Laura Luter, another member of the group, pointed out that “as a state park pass holder (in our household it’s actually 2 passes), a volunteer at several parks and have worked over 500 hours in the last 18 months, an avid pickleball player and RVer, and a Florida resident who wants to visit ALL state parks (126 so far), I have to say that the proposed development with hotels, golf courses, and pickleball courts is not necessary. I grew up in Palm Beach County and am familiar with the growing number of golf courses in close proximity to Jonathan Dickinson State Park.”
Luter is right: There are an estimated 47 golf courses within 20 miles of Dixon State Park, which raises the question of why Dixon State Park even needs one.
These are your parks – get involved
Talk of Titusville encourages all citizens to participate in the public comment process and share their opinions with FDEP – in one way or another.
Link to public feedback on the FDEP plans
We will provide information about when and where in-person public hearings will take place as soon as those plans are announced.
