St. Pete is buying a nearly 35-acre sliver of land from the St. Petersburg Country Club to expand the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve.
The land will provide what Mayor Rick Kriseman described as a buffer zone for the already 250-acre ecosystem.
“This city preserve is truly one of St. Petersburg’s most precious assets,” Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin said during a news conference at one of the nature preserve’s education centers. “Tucked away along St. Pete’s southern shore, it graciously invites visitors into the lush Lake Maggiore ecosystem and surrounding hardwood hammock providing an enviable intimacy with nature that’s hard to find in a bustling city just minutes from downtown.”
The deal has been several years in the making. The land purchased will not only serve as a buffer, it will also stifle any future development plans.
“We protect not just Boyd Hill and the wildlife that call it home, but we protect the Lakewood Estates Civic Association and we accommodate the country club and its many golfers who also love this preserve, “ Kriseman said. “It’s an ecosystem of its own where threatened species can be found including the gopher tortoise. What we don’t intend to do is move at the speed of a gopher tortoise.”
The country club had been offered $3.2 million for the same land the city has now agreed to purchase for just $1.1 million.
“We are pleased with the price that we are paying,” Kriseman chuckled when asked whether he was pleased with the city’s deal.
Kriseman also said even though the land will protect gopher tortoises, he doesn’t expect the city to move at their pace. City Council, including Steve Kornell who helped lead efforts to acquire the land, is expected to move quickly on approving the sale.
