Concerned Friends of Fernandina |
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Sale of Public Lands page:
I moved to Amelia Island for the biodiversity - the sheer variety of plants and animals in our natural world. My carefully chosen mid-island backyard, adjacent to city-owned recreation land "that would never be developed," has a retention pond, pine woods and native wax myrtle trees that is full of many different forms of life. There are moments in my yard when the whole world seems alive and busy, oblivious to my presence. These are the times I cherish the most in my little world. If I look high to the tops of the towering pine trees - the last stand on Simmons Road - I can catch glimpses of large pileated woodpeckers flying from tree to tree. Herons and egrets regularly visit the retention pond. And if I'm lucky in warmer months, sometimes along with the cardinals and titmice and chickadees at my feeders, I might even see a gaudy painted bunting. Buntings spend most of their time hiding and feeding in stands of native woods and shrubs but sometimes bravely venture forth to many Amelia Island backyard feeders for a high caloric snack. Similarly the diversity of butterflies many of us see in our yards only survive due to the native host plants that still manage to hold on in tiny plots of undeveloped land mid-island. I also always enjoy watching the turtles in my backyard retention pond. For years these turtles have been crawling from the pond to the city-owned recreational property bordering the golf course to lay their eggs. In this for-now-protected plot of palmetto scrub and wax myrtle trees, pond turtles and gopher tortoises can still lay their eggs where they will be undisturbed by humans. The eggs are not completely safe here, of course. In these same woods and shrubs, raccoons, bobcats, otters and opossums make their dens. At least turtle eggs in the woods have more chance of surviving than those laid on concrete, or in pesticide-ridden St. Augustine lawns or golf course turf, their only other choice mid-island. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, in my own backyard I might even see an otter or three fishing in the pond, or the tracks of a bobcat passing by unseen. Bobcats, otters, deer, foxes and even the occasional bear have been known to move the length of Amelia Island in search of seasonal food sources and suitable unrelated mates. From Cumberland and Tiger Islands north of us, many large animals can swim to Fort Clinch State Park, then pass along the Egans Creek Greenway where they can hopefully continue to get a drink of fresh water and a dry undisturbed place to rest on their travels. If they still need to move south their next stop is the perilous journey across Sadler - where the last wetland patch now exists - and on across Simmons to the still-native vegetation bordering the city golf course from Simmons Road to Amelia Parkway. From here the wildlife corridor continues from golf course to golf course at night, south to Amelia State Park, the Talbot Islands and beyond. Who knows, if reports are true maybe Florida panthers even occasionally traverse this corridor. The keys to all of this wildlife living on and passing through our island are twofold: the small remaining wetland south of Cedar River Seafood on Sadler, and the city-owned native palmetto and wax myrtle shrub bordering the city golf course. Although these plots are somewhat of a bottleneck, at least they still are there. Well, it's no surprise, is it, that these two parcels are both now under threat of development. If they too are turned into concrete and St. Augustine grass, existing neighborhoods mid-island will no longer have a diversity of birds and butterflies to watch in their backyards. Like the buntings, many other species need the last remaining patches of natural vegetation for sustenance, nesting and seclusion from people in between forays into our yards. And if this last natural stronghold is developed, bobcats and otters will no longer be able to travel up and down the island to find suitable mates and they too will eventually disappear. So folks, if this happens, no longer will Wild Ways stories be about backyard painted buntings, swallowtail butterflies, pileated woodpeckers, otters and nesting pond turtles. These will all be gone from mine and everyone's backyard world here on the island. Instead, expect titles like "Norway Rats invade my attic" and "Only English house sparrows at the feeders" and "Cuban anoles have won the war." And, sometime thereafter, expect me gone, too. Pat Foster-Turley Pat Foster-Turley is a Ph.D. zoologist and an international biodiversity specialist on Amelia Island. Contact her at patandbucko@yahoo.com with your nature questions and observations. ____________**______________
Recreational Zoning: Is it another way to “creatively” develop city land? On Wednesday, August 10 at a 6:00 PM meeting of the city Planning Advisory Board, there will be a public hearing on the proposal to rezone 6.45 acres of Golf Course Property from “low density residential” to “recreation”. Why now? What does this really mean? On the surface it appears that this addresses the public’s strong desire, as witnessed in the January 5, 2005 public workshop, to retain city land for the recreational enjoyment of its citizens. Great! But, as in many issues in our city and county, there may well be some back room deliberations with adverse consequences for the public majority. The parcel in question is adjacent to five other city recreation parcels once slated for future golf course expansion. The addition of this parcel provides access for a road connecting Simmons Road to 14th Street. City and Golf Course officials have been heard to mention the idea of turning this area into an upscale recreation vehicle park, for outside visitors. In other words, this could be a paved parking lot with a transient group of residents from outside the city, who would pay for the privilege of parking here and add more noise and traffic to our already congested roads. Maybe this is yet another way to creatively finance the desired irrigation improvements to the Golf Course? The recreation zoning code Sec. 126-351 has enough wiggle room within it to enable such a trailer park set-up instead of the more public use of space, such as hiking and biking trails, playgrounds and other passive recreation that Fernandina residents are desiring. How much public involvement is required when these various uses are being determined? Once it is zoned recreation, do we trust our city commission to do the right thing for this land? Judging from other recent decisions, I say no. As a Fernandina Beach resident and a wildlife advocate, I have a strong desire to see this land remain undeveloped in any major sense. The land in question, along with the other five adjacent parcels, provides a much-need reservoir for the natural life still found in the midpart of our island. This land, along with the fringes of the existing Golf Course provides a wildlife corridor connection to the Egans Greenway, and the continuation of Egans Creek south of Sadler Avenue and further south through the marshlands and airport fringe to the State Park system and beyond. The Great Florida Birding Trail begins at Fort Clinch State Park and continues south. The diversity of bird species found here are in part due to the remaining diversity of habitat patches, including this parcel. As it is now, otters, raccoons, and bobcats traverse this corridor and still have (barely) enough land to live and breed here. The system of mosquito ditches and ponds in this area provide food for water birds, frogs, and turtles. Pileated woodpeckers, painted buntings, various warblers and many other birds that are evident in our backyard bird feeders all require such stretches of undeveloped land to forage and find cover in. The remaining native plants still provide food sources for many backyard butterfly species. If this area is lost to development of any sort, whether it be big box stores, houses, or, yes, even a recreational trailer park, there will be far less recreational wildlife viewing opportunities for one and all. For many Fernandina Beach residents, the diverse wildlife viewing opportunities are a key reason that they live here. Far more people are backyard birdwatchers, and hikers and bikers, than are golfers and this constituent needs their own recreational opportunities as well. According to a 2001 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, 3,240,000 Floridians consider themselves to be wildlife watchers, accounting for an economic output of $2.8 billion dollars a year. Wildlife watching may be a non-consumptive use of natural resources but it does require something. It requires key wildlife habitat and corridors to be preserved. Before any zoning changes are made to the area from Simmons Road to adjacent golf course lands, the public needs a clear understanding of what type of recreation is and is not planned and possible for this area. Why not, instead, deem this land “conservation land?” The addition of hiking and biking trails and picnic tables and pond overlooks would fit well within conservation use parameters. Or, maybe, if zoned “recreation” a clause could be put in to prohibit a recreational vehicle park or similar “development.” The bottom line is: Why does this property even have to be rezoned now? Can’t this wait until there is a clear proposal for the way it will be used and more time to research options? For now, keeping this land in city hands, but undeveloped in any way, shape or form seems to be the best solution. If you are a concerned wildlife watcher, please attend this meeting and voice your concerns, and I will do the same. All we can do is try….. Pat Foster-Turley, PhD, Fernandina Beach _____________**_____________
One of our members attended the Golf Course Advisory meeting yesterday,
Jan.25th, and just in case you thought the Golf Course issue over the sale
of public land was over and done with, remember that almost every issue
seems to recycle in our community.....
The Golf Course Advisory Board added 3 new members so there is and will be a steep learning curve for them related to the previous efforts of the Golf Course to deal with its financial situation. John Vickers, golf course manager, gave a recap of the Jan. 5 City Commission workshop where the consensus was that the City would not sell public lands and that the Golf Course needed to look for other ways to finance the necessary improvements. Although Mr. Vickers tried to steer the group away from the land sale idea and focus on other sources of revenue, many on the Board are not willing to let the idea go and kept returning to it time and time again throughout the two-hour meeting. One of the members brought up the fact that part of the land (about 6 acres) was already zoned residential and didn't require a citizen's vote to be sold. She wanted the Board to go back to the City and request that the parcel of land be sold to pay for the golf course improvements. Mr. Vickers finally said that the membership fees needed a hard look and he was going to prepare a market analysis as he thought there was room for a significant increase and still remain competitive. He indicated that when he looked at this issue in the past, the 'members' accounted for 60% of the rounds that were played, but accounted for only 30% of the revenue. John also mentioned that the City had agreed to look at the $100,000 allocation fee to determine if it was at the proper level. So for now, CFOF is hopeful that the Golf Course Advisory Board will focus on looking at their membership fees and other new sources of new or additional revenue to finance the improvements that are needed for the course. But just as the development of Crane Island comes and goes - we need to not take anything for granted - and continue to be watchful.
At a Workshop of the City Commission held on January 5, 2005 the consensus of the City Commission was not to move forward on the consideration of selling public property to finance improvements to the Golf Course. Instead, the City will look for alternative ways to finance these improvements including raising fees.
13 Dec 04 Sale of City Property near Golf Course At a Special Meeting of the City Commission on November 18th, the Commissioners discussed the potential sale of land next to the golf course that is undeveloped. This option germinated from the Golf Course Advisory Board City as a means to pay for a major renovation of the golf course irrigation system and renovation of the greens and fairways. City Manager Mearns recapped that the land being considered is approximately 34 acres of land with 10 of it being wetlands. Of the developable 24 acres, 6 of it is already zoned Residential and the remainder is Recreational. Under our City Charter, for the City to sell or lease for more than 40 years any land that is recreational requires voter approval. In order to get this initiative on the April ballot, the City Commission needs to pass an ordinances which will specify the language to be on the ballot. To develop these specifics, the City must decide whether it is going to sell or lease and what the proceeds are going to be used for. Vice Mayor Beano Roberts readily acknowledged that the ballot initiative has absolutely no chance if it is only about raising money for the golf course to replace their irrigation system ($1.2 million) and rebuild their greens/tee boxes (another million or so). He indicated that there needed to be expenditures for other community programs in order to generate a wider base of support. Vice Mayor Roberts has done a significant amount of consideration of this issue and provided information on his master plan; although there were some inconsistencies. He has calculated that a developer could get 85 lots from the 25 acres at 3.5 lots per acre. In order to make the sale more palatable, he suggested that the development include a five-acre park. It appears he is calculating that the 5 acres of park will be from the wetlands. At $60,000 - $70,000 per lot the City would get about $5.0 million. This would pay for the golf course irrigation system and would leave a lot of other money for other projects (additional parks, outdoor amphitheatre, money for the Amelia Arts Center). Commissioner John Crow said he was adamantly opposed to selling ANY of this land. He then raised the idea of the City working with the Bank/Hawthorne whereby the City would sell off 9 holes of the existing City course (approximately 60 acres) and use that money to improve the golf course and combine the City course with Royal Amelia under management by Hawthorne. It was a bit unclear as to whether Commissioner Crow was thinking of allowing Hawthorne to use the 60 acres to build their 'resort facility'. There was a motion to have the City staff draw up an ordinance for the disposition of the 35 acres. The motion passed 3-2 with Commissioner Crow and Mayor Roland opposing. City Attorney Braga asked for direction as to whether it was to be sold or leased and what the proceeds were going to be used for. She was instructed to make it as flexible as possible. CFOF is adamantly opposed to the sale of this or any other City land for development purposes. While initially purchased by the City to expand the Golf Course, this property is owned by the City and should be used to benefit all of its citizens. The growth of the City through annexation will occur on its southern side where this property is located. As an enterprise operation, the Golf Course must generate enough revenue through fees to provide for maintenance and the establishment of a reserve account to handle long-term capital expenditures such as these. Besides, the City selling the property would only be a one-time cash infusion. If the golf course didn't make enough money to build a reserve account (as it does not now) in the future, what will happen 20 years from now when the golf course needed to replace the irrigation system again and there was no more land to sell. CFOF will work to defeat the approval of the ordinance to place this on the ballot.
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"cfof" are residents of Fernandina Beach, Florida.
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