RECENT LAND SHENANIGANS BY STATE THREATEN FLORIDIANS' RECREATIONAL ACCESS TO PRIME WATERWAYS, RAISE
QUESTIONS ABOUT MISUSE OF TAX DOLLARS Lake Kissimmee Less than a year ago, the South West Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) used the threat of eminent domain to obtain from a private owner 3,000 acres of prime recreational Lake Kissimee west shore real estate, supposedly to restore water levels to historic benchmarks. Now barely eight months later, SFWMD finds less than a third of that pristine acreage was required for the fulfillment of the agency's goals. SFWMD is proposing the unneeded part of the land be declared surplus for sale to interest parties, including developers. What just a short while ago held great promise for Florida citizens as a major waterway access area to over a dozen pristine lakes and connector streams now seems destined to be sold to the highest bidder. If this happens to be development interests, based on historic trends the public soon will be denied access. Another of the rare pieces of Florida that can be enjoyed by the public will be gone, locked up in gated communities. In a reverse of the action being taken by the Water Management District,, the Governor and Cabinet ( Board of Trustees) recently approved the purchase of development rights on property near the Shady Oaks Property. To taxpayers it seems odd that one arm of government is selling developable land in the same place that another arm of government is purchasing new development rights! One could legitimately ask why one agency of the state is spending tax dollars to purchase property, while another arm is selling almost identical property as "surplus". The original purchase price, obtained by the threat of condemnation, was approximately $16 million. By some accounts, it appears the Water Management District intended all along to retain the 800 acres and sell off the remainder of the property as "surplus" land. In this manner, the Water Management District could pay for the 800 acres it needed and realize a profit from selling the remainder of the land. Airboat-Sportsmen and other boaters point to the fact that the original purchase was made using Florida Forever tax funds earmarked for restoration and preservation of natural areas to keep them open and available for public access. Florida boaters in general and the Florida Airboat Association especially are concerned that another point of public access is now in jeopardy of being withdrawn from public use. Captain Phil Walters
Florida Airboat Association-President | 
