Palm Beach County commissioners have joined the loud and growing chorus of opposition to a plan by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ environmental agency to add golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
“My inbox, my phone text messages have been overwhelmed with this, and there hasn’t been a single person who has said, ‘Yes, we want this,’” said Commissioner Maria Marino, whose north-county district is just 3 miles south of the park entrance on U.S. 1 in southern Martin County.
“I’m a professional golfer. I understand the need for golf courses. I just don’t understand the need in our environmentally sensitive areas,’’ she said.
Marino said she planned to attend a state hearing on the plan, originally scheduled for Tuesday Aug. 27 in Stuart, before the state announced Friday it was postponing the meeting until the week of Sept. 2.
Jonathan Dickinson is one of nine state parks across Florida targeted for major development proposals under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's so-called Great Outdoors Initiative.
Those proposals include pickleball courts, 350-room lodges and disc golf at other state parks, sparking outcry from environmental groups and residents across Florida.
The JD Park proposal calls for golf courses on 1,000 acres in the 10,500-acre park. The popular Hobe Mountain observation tower would be torn down and the existing park entrance, management offices and staff residences would be moved.
Although the Palm Beach County Commission has no say or jurisdiction over the state’s proposal, commissioners and county staff were so concerned that they devoted time at the end of their zoning meeting Thursday to direct Mayor Maria Sachs to send a letter of opposition to the DEP.
The park is home to endangered scrub habitat and the watershed of the Loxahatchee River, which is one of two federally designated wild and scenic rivers in Florida and flows south into Jupiter.
The DEP proposal “is directly detrimental to environmentally sensitive lands and water quality to the Loxahatchee River,’’ Deb Drum, director of the county’s Environmental Resources Management Department, said in a memo to county commissioners on Friday, Aug. 23.
“Protection of water quality and lands has been a hallmark of our success as a County, much of which is as a direct result of various partnerships between the County and the Department. This proposal will significantly harm, if not completely destroy, scrub habitat located in the Park, which is imperiled both globally and in Florida because of its rarity and vulnerability to extinction, and contains many rare endemic plant species that only exist in Southeast Florida.’’
She counted 69 golf courses within 20 miles of the park entrance.
“A proposal to significantly change the natural resource protection of even a portion of Jonathan Dickinson State Park is not consistent with the history, role, and mission of FDEP,” she said.
Addressing county commissioners at the Thursday zoning meeting, Drum said: “It may have been very good intentions on behalf of the state government to have accessible public land. We feel this is a shortsighted way to achieve that goal that will result in direct destruction to things that are supposed to be resource based. This is really destroying the resource of the resource-based recreation.’’
At the zoning meeting, Commissioner Sara Baxter asked why the county should oppose the plans before “getting all the information” from the state at the DEP’s public workshop.
Drum pointed out that the state on Wednesday released an overview of the proposal with a map showing where the golf courses will go. The Stuart meeting, originally scheduled for just one hour, is the public’s chance to voice input, Drum said.
The DEP released its plans on social media late Wednesday after documents were leaked earlier in the week to the Tampa Bay Times and other media outlets.
“Everything I’ve seen, our governor has been very friendly to environmental issues, water issues, you name it, go down the list,’’ Baxter said. “He has been very supportive. So I am trying to figure out why. What is motivating this?’’
Drum replied, “Your question is a good question. There are a lot of people out there asking it.’’
Drum acknowledged that DeSantis has done solid work to help environmental issues like Everglades restoration.
“I’m believing that maybe there was an intention there. The implementation of that intention was maybe not as aligned with environmental preservation,’’ Drum said. “I can say that the proposal we have seen has a very long list and a wide variety of concerns. And we are not alone. The public is speaking out on this.’’
A Save Jonathan Dickinson State Park Facebook page, created days ago, has more than 25,000 members, Drum told commissioners.
Baxter asked if any conversations with state officials have taken place “or are we going strictly with what's in the press release?”
Drum said she’d exchanged emails with the DEP and the director of JD State Park “but they are staying very much to the press release and the limited information that has been provided at this point in time.’’
Marino said she spoke to Congressman Brian Mast, “who said ‘I know nothing about this’ and there are other Florida legislators who have said the same thing. This was a surprise to everyone.’’
Marino supported the county’s letter to the DEP and urged the public to attend the DEP meeting.
“As a county, we can do our best to say this is something we do not want,’’ she said. “It is up to us to have our voices heard.’’
The DEP launched a webpage that allows public comments for each of the nine park proposals.
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About the author
Joe Capozzi is an award-winning reporter based in Lake Worth Beach. He spent more than 30 years writing for newspapers, mostly at The Palm Beach Post, where he wrote about the opioid scourge, invasive pythons, the birth of the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches and Palm Beach County government. For 15 years, he covered the Miami Marlins baseball team. Joe left The Post in December 2020. View all posts by Joe Capozzi.
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