©2024 The News Service of Florida
The state Department of Environmental Protection has pushed back a series of meetings about a controversial proposal to add lodges, pickleball and golf at state parks.
Eight meetings had been scheduled for Tuesday at sites throughout the state, but the department said Friday in a post on the social media site X that new meeting dates will be announced for the week of Sept. 2.
“We want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate,” the department said.
The post said the agency was looking for new venues to accommodate the public.
The proposal, dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” has drawn opposition from Republican and Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups.
The proposed changes, which would affect nine parks, include lodges of up to 350 rooms, pickleball courts, disc golf courses and golf courses.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the group behind the proposal to build golf courses on Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the Delaware-registered Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, is withdrawing its plan.
The Times also reports that “More than a hundred people gathered at Honeymoon Island Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds also gathered at Anastasia State Park and Jonathan Dickinson State Park in protest of the state’s plan.” Honeymoon Island and Hillsborough River State Park are two of the parks where recreational development are proposed.
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