ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The owner of Fish Island, under the State Road 312 Bridge in St. Augustine, intends to sell 72 acres he had intended to develop to the North Florida Land Trust for conservation, City Manager John Regan told the City Commission Monday night.
It was reported that D.R. Horton had planned to build 170 single-family homes on the island in the Matanzas River.
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Monday's announcement came after months of vocal opposition and an intense social media campaign urging the city to conserve Fish Island for ecological and historical purposes.
Jen Lomberk, the Matanzas Riverkeeper, was elated when she heard the news.
“I was cautiously optimistic that this announcement was going to come and I was thrilled, excited and relieved to see it happen,” Lomberk told WUFT. “Everybody seems to have this overwhelming feeling of hope that I think has kind of been absent in the community for a while.”
NFLT confirmed Wednesday that it is in private discussions with the owners of Fish Island to acquire and preserve the land.
“We normally don’t discuss our projects in their infancy, but the community has been so involved in preserving this land that we thought it best to let them know we had started discussions with the owners,” said Jim McCarthy, president of NFLT. “Our next steps are to do our due diligence and when we get the appraisal, we will begin our negotiations to acquire the property for preservation.”
Lomberk hopes to see the land used for passive recreation, including walking trails and wildlife viewing.
Negotiations between the property owners, the Young Land Group, and the Land Trust are expected to result in a contract in the next two or three weeks.
NFLT said the primary conservation purpose for preserving the land is a historic one. The island was the site of one of the plantations that was integral to St. Augustine’s history. It still has some ruins and other evidence of its historic use. Although the property is located within an urbanized environment, it does have a healthy maritime hammock forest and preserving the land would help avoid significant run-off.
NFLT will need to raise money to preserve the property. Donors can contribute to preserving Fish Island at https://www.nflt.org/preservefishisland/.