DUNEDIN, Fla. — Protestors lined up at state parks across Florida on Tuesday as uproar over controversial development proposals to build hotels, pickleball courts and more grew louder.
Public meetings related to the proposals at several state parks from the Department of Environmental Protection were initially scheduled for Tuesday, but postponed after a swath of public outcry and an “overwhelming interest.”
Last week, the Department of Environmental Protection unveiled project plans for nine state parks as part of its “Great Outdoors Initiative,” aimed at expanding public access and recreation opportunities across the state.
The proposals for new developments, including lodging, glamping sites, golf courses and pickleball courts across several Florida State Parks, faced criticism from environmentalists and bipartisan lawmakers.
Under the proposed concepts:
- Anastasia State Park (St. Johns County) would see a 350-room lodge constructed.
- Camp Helen State Park (Bay County) would see 10 cabins constructed for lodging and “glamping.”
- Grayton Beach State Park (Walton County) would see an additional 10 cabins constructed plus a beach-access restroom
- Hillsborough River State Park (Hillsborough County) would see 4 new pickleball courts and a disc golf course
- Honeymoon Island State Park (Pinellas County) would see 4 new pickleball courts.
- Jonathan Dickinson State Park (Martin County) would see a public golf course
- Oleta River State Park (Miami-Dade County) would see construction of new cabins, pickleball courts and disc golf courses.
- Topsail Hill Preserve State Park (Walton County) would see construction of a 350 room lodge, pickleball courts and a disc golf course.
- Dr. Von Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park (Broward County) would see 4 new pickleball courts.
The group behind a plan to build golf courses in Florida's Jonathan Dickinson State withdrew its proposal, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said in a release Sunday.
On Honeymoon Island State Park, protestors gathered Tuesday with signs reading “Honeymoon is in a pickle,” “Protect the parks,” “Keep it for birds, not balls,” and more.
Honeymoon is the state’s most visited park in the system. Protestors and locals say it’s the nature that keeps people coming.
“We can go anywhere to do pickleball or golf, [state parks are] not really the place. We need to preserve this,” protestor Dixie Sparks said.
“This is a pretty divided state, but when it comes to an issue like this we are all supporting the state vs. bad policy,” said protestor Steve Swanson, holding a sign that read “The Greed Outdoors Initiative.”
The demonstrators share a similar message that postponing public meetings is not enough, they want the plans ditched altogether.
“Don’t bother rescheduling we are going to stand up for our state parks, today, next week and until we know they are safe and persevered,” Kira Barrera, an organizer with Suncoast Sierra Club, said.
Florida DEP says public input is vital, and locations and times for meetings next week will be put out later. Floridians can submit public comments online.
We reached out to Governor DeSantis' office for comment on the pushback last week. Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern provided the following:
“The Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Parks are looking at recommendations for ways to enhance Florida’s parks to make them more visitor-friendly. There will be multiple phases of public discussion to evaluate stakeholders' feedback. The agency’s initial recommendations are based on public input and proposals—from pickleball to golf to additional bike trails and camping access; the proposals vary and may not all be approved. Finally, recommendations will be evaluated, and no final decisions will be made until the public comment and review process has been completed.
10 Tampa Bay's Patrick Henkels contributed to this report.