JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A developer is abandoning a plan to swap 403 acres of land on Black Hammock Island in order to build 1,400 homes on state-owned land the Julington-Durbin Preserve, currently managed as a city park.
Eastland, the developer of much of the surrounding land in Bartram Park, never filed a formal application with the state proposing the exchange, but the idea prompted fierce opposition from environmentalists, including the St. Johns Riverkeeper, which was organizing a protest next month. More than 6,400 signatures were collected on a Change.org petition opposing the land swap in two weeks.
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The prreserve sits on a peninsula formed at the confluence of Julington and Durbin creeks, offering unique communities ranging from sandhill to flatwood to floodplan swamp and marshes, according the city of Jacksonville. Nine miles of shoreline provide views of Julington and Durbin creeks, and an extensive trail system for waking, biking and horseback riding with trails totaling more than 6 miles round trip.
“Based on input we received from various preservation organizations and conservation proponents like former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney and the North Florida Land Trust, we realize that the Preserve is an environmental gem and we have decided not to pursue the exchange further,” Eastland President Tom Dodson said a written statement. “Instead, we are now exploring the sale of the Black Hammock land to the state of Florida.”
The preservation of the Black Hammock land, which is situated along the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and is presently zoned for residential real estate development, has been a priority for area residents as well as preservation groups like the North Florida Land Trust.
Eastland said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection proposed that the state would consider an acquisition of the Black Hammock land, and Eastland has agreed to pursue this path.
“We look forward to working with the state to reach a mutually satisfactory transaction,” said Dodson.
In 2000, Dodson, in collaboration with then-Mayor Delaney, sold 2,000 acres adjacent to Bartram Park to the state and St. Johns River Water Management District to create the Julington-Durbin Preserve. It was part of that land he was seeking to regain and develop before dropping the plan.
In its press release, Eastland also announced it will be building a canoe and kayak launch off Racetrack Road within a year’s time.