DeSantis withdrew controversial plan to pave state parks in Florida

Ron DeSantis withdraws plan to pave over native habitats and build recreational facilities in state parks. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday withdrew a proposal that would have paved over native habitats and protected beaches in state parks to make way for golf courses, pickleball courts and large hotels.

The Republican governor reversed the controversial plan announced by his administration last week after even members of his own party protested. Hundreds of people demonstrated at the nine parks in which was intended to be urbanized.

“So this is something that was leaked,” DeSantis said at a news conference Wednesday in Winter Haven when asked about the plan. “It wasn’t approved by me. I’ve never seen it. They’re going back to the drawing board.”

It was the first time that DeSantis has spoken publicly on the subject. The “Iniciativa Great Outdoors“was announced last week by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and planned the construction of three golf courses in the Jonathan Dickinson State Parkan undeveloped tract of land north of Palm Beach popular for its trails and bird watching.

The plan also proposed building new accommodations with capacity for hundreds of guests in the Anastasia State Parknearly Saint Augustineand in the Topsail Hill Preservein it PanhandleThe latter has sand dunes that the state park service describes as “especially notable because they have been untouched by development.”

DeSantis said Wednesday that “a lot of that stuff was half-done” and accused a “left-wing group” of leaking the proposal. Department of Environmental Protection He promoted the initiative on social media, so it is unclear what he was referring to. DeSantis as a leak. His office did not return a request for comment.

After several days of public protests, the organization which had proposed the golf courses to the environmental protection division withdrew its plans.

Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with two members of DeSantis’ Cabinet, condemned the proposal. (REUTERS/Octavio Jones)

Many of the state’s top Republicans, including senators Marco Rubio y Rick Scottand two U.S. senators, opposed the proposal. Rubio and Scott, and two members of DeSantis’ Cabinet, condemned the plans and also the DEP’s rush to approve them.

The public meetings were scheduled for this week in cities across the state and last just an hour. Members of the state panel that approves such plans would not have been present at the meetings, according to the letter signed by Scott and others.

“None of them were going to be there to really listen to the community feedback and hear how the community doesn’t want this,” he told ABC News the republican congressman Brian Mastwhose district includes the Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County. “You have to have a transparent government that pays attention to the people, not a government that doesn’t,” he added.

Mast said a golf course in the park would go “over my dead body.”

Democrats seized on the unpopular plan – more than 100,000 people signed a petition protesting the proposal for the Jonathan Dickinson State Park– to say DeSantis is out of touch with regular Floridians.

“Floridians of all political persuasions can agree on one thing: We must protect our state’s natural beauty from overdevelopment,” said the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Friedin a statement.

The plan also called for building accommodations for hundreds of guests at major Florida parks. (REUTERS/Marco Bello)

Critics of the governor said the backlash also underscored the official’s weakened influence, even within his own party since his failed presidential campaign. At the height of his popularity, DeSantis He pushed through initiatives with little or no opposition of the state government dominated by the Republican Party.

Eric Draperformer director of the Florida Park Servicesaid public outcry should convince lawmakers that residents value parks as protected natural places.

“In an era of partisan bickering, this has been the issue that has united Republicans and Democrats and independents,” said Draper, who served as state parks director from 2017 to 2021.

“As a long-time state environmental leader, I have never seen so many people organize so quickly and effectively to speak out in defense of the environment. I am very proud of that, and encouraged by what I see.”

The Washington Post

Lori Rozsa is a Florida-based journalist who covers the state for The Washington Post. She is a former correspondent for People magazine and a former reporter and bureau chief for the Miami Herald.