ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County residents protested the proposed Guana Preserve land swap on Saturday.
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Six hundred acres of protected land in St. Johns County’s Guana Preserve could be swapped out and built into homes. If the deal is approved, the land would be exchanged for 3,000 acres from four plots of land throughout the state.
Neighbors to the preserve and conservationists said it’s a bad idea.
“It came at a complete shock. It’s not something we are willing to sit down and be quiet about, so we are out here to talk about it,” Stacey Stroumpf, community organizer, said.
Florida has been a hot spot for development, and the need for more housing remains strong.
The proposed swap would transfer hundreds of acres near Ponte Vedra Beach to a developer in exchange for 3,000 acres of conservation land spread across four Florida counties.
“This is not an area of land that can be replaced, so to parcel this off for homes and golf courses to lose its natural beauty and the protected status of it is really asinine. The initial feeling was fear. It’s so quick, there’s not enough information about it. And the vote is happening in just a few days,” Stroumpf said.
The fight over the land has been ongoing.
Conservationists previously fought to protect 100 acres of private property known as the Outpost, which borders the preserve. According to land swap application documents, the developer seeking the exchange owns property adjacent to the preserve, potentially including the Outpost property that was sold several years ago.
“…There is nothing else like it in the state, it’s a 12 miracle and it’s worth fighting for,” Matthew Chipperfield said, who has been running fishing charters out in the preserve for about 10 years.
He calls the area the Crown Jewel of North Florida’s outdoor wildlife.
“We are hoping to squash this land swap by Wednesday, where there is a meeting in Tallahassee,” Chipperfield said.
There will be a meeting between the ARC committee members and the FDEP.
The application for the process began with the private landowner, but it must be voted on for the 600 acres. Though the owner of the land that could be swapped was not there to share his or her side, Chipperfield said this is an issue that brings everyone together.
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