St. Pete City Council is on board to spend $1.1 million for 11.6 acres of land adjacent to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve that would serve as an additional buffer to ensure the land remains pristine and untouched.
The land purchase would also include an agreement with owners of 22.85 acres of golf course land that abuts Boyd Hill. Owners would have to abide by a restrictive covenant in the contract that would restrict land use to just golf.
The idea is to thwart development efforts in the area. A contractor had previously offered more than $3 million for the land with intent to build townhomes. Not only did the city get that price tag — one that was verified by two separate appraisals — down to just $1.1 million, they also got the restrictive covenant on additional land.
However, council members did suggest there could be some unforeseen complications later on down the road as golf courses increasingly face financial woes. Council member Jim Kennedy asked what would happen if the golf course went out of business — would another owner only be allowed to use that portion of golf course land for golf?
And council chair Charlie Gerdes echoed those concerns, wondering whether someone could use the land for other passive activities that wouldn’t threaten the Boyd Hill ecosystem like a park.
City staff said the language in the deal could easily be changed to provide a more flexible protection and didn’t see any reason why owners would oppose such a change.
“It’s a win, win, win,” City Council member Steve Kornell said. “Nobody’s really unhappy with it.”
Kornell has been working with city staff for months on ushering in a deal for the park that sits in his district. Many residents in Lakewood Estates where Boyd Hill is located came to him asking to ensure the land wasn’t used for development, but rather preserved as part of the existing park.
City Council will still have to push the measure through two public hearings before final approval of the contract, but the unanimous nod during a Committee of the Whole workshop Thursday morning is a good indication council will support the effort.
Council member Wengay Newton voiced strong support for purchasing the land.
“If you’ve been there it’s like a whole ‘nother world in itself right there in St. Pete,” Newton said. “It’s breathtaking and you don’t have to go 500 miles up into the mountains to do it.”
Once approved, the city will pay for most of the land by draining the environmental preservation fund. The remaining balance will be pulled from the city’s Weeki Wachee fund.
