The Florida Senate’s Fiscal Policy Committee shot down a bill amendment floated by Sarasota Sen. Joe Gruters that opponents feared would open the door for recreational facilities and lodging at state parks.
Though it signed off on the overall bill, the committee rejected Gruters’ amendment to the State Park Preservation Act — a bill designed to preclude construction of amenities like pickleball courts, golf courses and hotels on public park land — on Tuesday.
Gruters’ proposed edits would have permitted some recreational development in the parks through a public approval process.
Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, sponsored the original bill in response to a controversial proposal from the state Department of Environmental Protection that aimed to add recreational development as a means of bolstering public access, recreation and lodging at Florida state parks. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the plan, billed last year as the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” would go “back to the drawing board” after it faced bipartisan criticism and widespread public pushback last August.
Gruters’ amendment, filed Monday, late in the 60-day legislative session, aimed to preserve protections for undisturbed parts of the parks while fostering some growth in other areas — a pivot from the original and more restrictive bill. It would do so by limiting compatible “conservation-based public outdoor recreational uses” to already disturbed areas, and required approval through a public process.
Gruters told the Herald-Tribune that the DEP’s contentious development proposal gave him pause as it did for many of his colleagues. But the State Park Preservation Act, he said, could be too extreme a response without his revisions.
“I was probably as outraged as everybody else when you saw all that stuff pop up last year,” Gruters said. “We are creating such a high hurdle to make sure that we protect our natural habitat, our state parks for their intended purpose, and that it won’t disrupt nature.”
Opponents of the amendment raised specific concerns about Gruters’ provisions saying they could be used to incorporate hotels in state parks. The bill indicated that the parks division may not install or permit the installation at state parks of any public lodging establishment, but the proposed amendment would have allowed the state to acquire public lodging establishments on property that could be included in a state park.
The Lodge at Wakulla Springs, which serves as a historic hotel with 27 guestrooms in the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, is the only such facility already existing at a Florida state park, state records show. The lodge was built in 1937 before the property was designated as a state park. The amendment pitched by Gruters would have allowed similar acquisition of properties that already have lodging establishments.
Prior to the committee’s denial, Gruters said that the amendment to S.B. 80 would balance the intended purpose of the bill to protect undisturbed habitat at state parks with desire to build some public recreational facilities within them. The bill indicates those recreational activities do not include sports that require sporting facilities, such as golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball courts, ball fields and other similar developments.
While he understands the desire to block intense construction like sports facilities, Gruters said he’s wary of a bill that squashes all opportunities for growth.
“Without this amendment, you can’t even put in a horseshoe pit,” Gruters said. “Think about how crazy that is. Yes we want to protect the parks, but at the same time the goal is not to end any type of growth on our parks.”
The Fiscal Policy passed the committee by an 18-0 vote. It will now head to the Senate floor, where it could still be subject to amendments.
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