The developer who sold much of the Julington-Durbin Creek peninsula to the state for conservation a generation ago is trying to get part of it back for house lots.
Bartram Park developer Tom Dodson is offering to swap 403 acres on Black Hammock Island for the same number of acres off Bartram Park Boulevard, where Jacksonville operates park facilities in the Julington-Durbin Preserve, according to our Florida Times-Union news partner.
For context, Black Hammock Island is on the Jacksonville metro area’s northside while the Julington-Durbin Creek area is in the southern metro area.
The swap would need approval from Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet as well as the St. Johns River Water Management District and Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection.
“We’ve had very good discussions with the various interested parties, and will continue to do so,” Dodson said in a written response to a reporter’s inquiry. “We believe this exchange agreement is a unique opportunity to preserve Black Hammock, greatly improve the Julington-Durbin Preserve park and add a quality residential community.”
The land Dodson wants is owned by the state and the St. Johns River Water Management District. The swap is intended to let him build up to 1,400 more homes in a prime real estate market at the St. Johns County line.
The arrangement would essentially reverse a concession Dodson made in 1999, when he had a contract to buy 4,500 acres from a real estate trust and struck a deal for the city, state and management district to pay to preserve about 2,000 acres of that land.
The prospect of losing part of the peninsula drew quick criticism.
“This proposed land grab of our conservation lands would establish a dangerous precedent. Taxpayers were promised this land would be protected forever,” said St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman, who said the peninsula is important for water quality and wildlife habitat as well as recreation.
“If elected officials support this land grab, they will undermine public trust, the protections that safeguard our public lands, and the health of the surrounding waterways,” Rinaman said.
In addition to the Black Hammock land, Dodson’s development company, Eastland Corp., would provide $1.4 million for changes to the Julington-Durbin preserve, including public bathrooms, paved parking for cars and horse trailers, a dog park and access for canoes and kayaks.
Jacksonville paid $4.2 million into the $16.9 million purchase deal, which was finalized in 2001, with the management district and the state covering the rest. The city doesn’t own any of the preserve and doesn’t have a vote on whether to swap the properties.
John Delaney, who was Jacksonville’s mayor when the deal was struck, works now with a lobbying and government relations company that works for Eastland.
Dodson’s statement included a quote from Delaney: “This exchange agreement between Eastland and the state will ensure that Jacksonville residents and visitors are able to use the park for years to come.”
Delaney initially declined to answer whether he was working on the swap, referring a reporter to Dodson. He said he had “always resisted selling” preservation land, but added that “flipping land may be a different story” if a swap benefits both sides.
Delaney, who recently retired as president of the University of North Florida, said in Dodson’s statement that the city had repeatedly tried to acquire the Black Hammock land Dodson is offering, and that “I’m happy that possibility now exists.”