After flood of criticism, Florida delays meetings on state park plans to add golf, hotels

Posted by Admin August 24, 2024 Golf

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News Service of Florida
| Tallahassee Democrat

Amid a wave of criticism, 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 initiative proposes a lodge of up to 350 rooms, along with four pickleball courts and a disc golf course at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Walton County.

Plans for Camp Helen State Park in Bay County and Grayton Beach State Park in Walton County each include the addition of 10 cabins. Camp Helen State Park could also get a “glamping” area. Glamping is essentially a combination of the words glamorous and camping.

The initiative also proposes:

Ten additional cabins, four pickleball courts and a disc golf course at Oleta River State Park in Miami-Dade County.
A lodge with up to 350 rooms at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County.
Four pickleball courts at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park in Broward County.
A disc golf course and up to four pickleball courts at Hillsborough River State Park in Hillsborough County.