The controversial plan to build amenities such as a golf course, a hotel, and pickleball courts at Florida state parks is facing strong headwinds.
In fact, the opposition was so intense that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection scrapped its plan to hold simultaneous, one-hour public hearings, one for each of the nine parks slated for development projects, on Tuesday.
The DEP made its decision after bipartisan opposition surfaced, including from Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, to the plan, saying instead that it would give the public more opportunity to have its say. The dates have not yet been set, but the state says the hearings will be scheduled for next week.
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The proposal to build an 18-hole golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Stuart sparked the bipartisan outrage.
“Hey everybody, Congressman Brian Mast here, thanks for being in the fight, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, over my dead body will they be putting a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park,” U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, (R) Stuart said on social media.
Mast is one of several Republicans who have joined Democrats in fighting the proposals.
I asked the head of Audubon Florida, Julie Wraithmell, if she was encouraged by the bipartisan opposition.
“I am heartened, but I’m not surprised, and that’s because the environment has always been a bipartisan issue in Florida,” Wraithmell said.
Two South Florida parks are on the proposal list. Mizell-Johnson State Park in Dania Beach, known for its pristine beach, would get pickleball courts on a parking lot. Oleta River State Park in North Miami would get an additional ten cabins built, a disc golf course, and again, pickleball courts.
Katie and Bobby Boucher use the bike paths at Oleta, and they have slightly different opinions on the proposed amenities.
“I honestly don’t think they need it, I mean it’s a native preserve, and that’s not what people are coming here for,” Katie Boucher said.
“The cabins I can agree with, 'cause that’s there we’re staying right now, the cabin part of the complex,” Bobby Boucher said.
Wraithmell said the development plan doesn’t follow the spirit of the state parks’ slogan, “The Real Florida.”
“There is no lack of places to play pickleball in Florida, no lack of places to play golf, no lack of hotels where you can find your continental breakfast, but there is a lack of places where you can go out and experience Florida the way that is used to be,” Wraithmell said.
Political scientist Sean Foreman of Barry University says Gov. Ron DeSantis might have put himself in a political pickle with the pickleball court plan.
“So I’m not surprised there’s pushback, what we’re looking for is to see how Gov. DeSantis responds and if he pushes forward and tries to amend but continue forward with this plan or if he ditches the plan, realizing it’s a political loser,” Foreman said.
Meanwhile, the pushback continues, with protests planned at several parks on Tuesday.
