If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all, you’ve seen that the Guana Preserve is once again at risk. I’ve been gathering the data around what’s been happening and what you can do about it. Let’s dive in!
On Wednesday evening, May 14, Audubon Florida broke the news that the Guana Preserve in St. Johns County was under attack. There is a proposed land swap of about 600 acres of the state owned Guana preserve for about 3000 acres of land across other areas in Florida.
On their website and FB page, they shared about a meeting scheduled by little known State organization
See their announcement on FB here: Audubon Florida FB Page
And their Call to Action on their website here: Audubon Society CTA
Details of the meeting where this Land Swap will occur can be found here: May21 ARC Meeting Agenda. The Land Swap is Agenda Item 4, linked here: Guana Land Swap
Surprisingly, the Save Guana Now organization that fought successfully to save Guana in the past was caught off guard by this announcement. It appears they found out about this only from the Audubon Society alerts.
We quickly began seeing speculation spreading across social media about who was behind the Land Swap. Within hours of the announcement of this news by the Audubon Society there was public speculation from Save Guana Now that the person behind the proposed swap was Bob Blandford of United Land Services.
I received an email Call to Action on Friday, May 16 declaring that there was a plan to develop 600 homes in the Guana Preserve.
Some said it was Gate and the Peyton Family behind the Land Swap.
There was speculation that the developer behind the land swap was the owner of Dream Finder Homes.
Looking at the property appraiser’s map, this 104 acre parcel is already zoned for a lodge or club. (that means the owner could be a club or lodge there today with no rezoning.) That may be leading to the speculation that a Golf Club will be built on the land.
A large protest occurred on Saturday to bring more attention to the proposal. See coverage here: First Coast News coverage of the protest and here: News4Jax
The Peytons have shared they are “absolutely not involved” in the Land Swap. In this Jax Today article, JAX Today May 15 Herb Peyton goes so far as to say ““Guana State Park is the finest land in Northeast Florida and no portion should be sold, swapped or developed,” he said. “This land belongs to the people of Florida and should be preserved forever.”
Dream Finder Homes has also sent a statement that they are not behind the land swap. In a Tampa Bay Times article, we find this statement, “Rob Riva, a general counsel for Dream Finders Homes, sent the Times an emailed statement Saturday denying the connection. ‘Dream Finders has no involvement in this swap,’ he said.”
The Tampa Bay Times shared this info that would explain how Internet sleuths cam to the wrong conclusion, “Dream Finders Homes previously built a community in Colorado called Uplands, and so Zalupski’s name is listed on multiple Florida companies with names that include that word, though none exactly match the LLC listed on this proposal.”
Local State Representative Kim Kendall has jumped into the fray rallying other State Representatives and demanding to know who is behind the Upland LLC that owns the property adjacent to the Guana Land that is being sought in this land swap. She has sent out 2 emails providing details about how to take action.
As she points out, there are 4 decision makers involved with this decision. It’s not the County Commission and it’s not our state legislators. It comes down to the Department of Environmental Protection Board and ultimately to the Governor and his cabinet.
From Representative Kendall’s newsletter:
**Email the 4 most important decision makers: the DEP Chair Bryan Bradner, who oversees the DEP ARC meeting on Wednesday (that board makes a recommendation) – from there it passes through another state division – and final stop (like the June 10 meeting) is the Governor and Chamber (which currently only includes Attorney General James Uthmeier and Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson):
Copy paste these four emails:
Bryan.Bradner@FloridaDEP.gov
GovernorRon.DeSantis@eog.myflorida.com
james.uthmeier@myfloridalegal.com
Wilton.Simpson@FDACS.gov
St. Johns County Commissioner Sarah Arnold has also been speaking out against the land swap, telling journalists at Saturday’s protest, “I’m getting whiplash out here. Once again, our land is under attack, I’m disgusted, angry and frustrated that we’re out here doing this again.”
Both Representative Kendall and Commissioner Arnold’s responses are covered in this Tampa Bay Times article: Tampa Bay Times coverage
You can see more of Commissioner Sarah Arnold’s opposition comments on her FB page here: Commissioner Sarah Arnold FB
The most recent high profile opposition comes from President Trump’s Chief of Staff, Northeast Florida’s own Susie Wiles. In a statement to The Tributary, Ms. Wiles said, ““Guana Preserve and its beauty, familiarity and serenity is woven into the fabric of our communities and is, indeed, a treasure in northeast Florida. To allow — even enable — this land grab to occur is outrageous and completely contrary to what our community desires. Elected and appointed leaders should vote against this development wolf in sheep’s clothing and preserve this extraordinary natural bounty.” Read the article here: JAX Trib article
Why is it important who owns this land adjacent to Guana? As Commissioner Clay Murphy explained in a Friday, May 16 interview, there is an obscure statute that allows someone with land ADJACENT to preserved land to request this type of land swap. Check out his interview and explanation here: Clay Murphy Interview The full interview starts about the 4 minute mark where Commissioner Murphy covers a number of important topics, the land swap included.
As Mark Woods reported in his Times-Union column on Sunday, “Upland LLC, which already owns 104 acres next to Guana, proposed a land swap to acquire 600 more acres currently owned by the state and open to the public with — as the proposal noted — a pedestrian trail, a dirt road, and access for waterfowl hunting, fishing, paddling and wildlife viewing.” Check out Mark’s column here: Mark Woods – Stop Guana Swap
What to do this week?
What can you do?
Sign the petition at the Audubon website: Audubon petition
Attend the ARC meeting on Wednesday – in person or virtually
Email the decision makers (email addresses above)
Attend or watch the Press Conference scheduled by Representative Kendall. She will be accompanied by St. Johns County Commissioners
Tuesday: Press Conference tentatively set for 10:30 a.m.
North Guana Outpost
4415 Mickler Road
Ponte Vedra Beach
Watch the Wednesday Press Conference Representative Kendall has scheduled prior to the ARC meeting:
Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. Press Conference
The Rotunda, 4th floor of the Capitol
Wednesday: 9 a.m.
DEP’s Acquisition and Restoration Council meeting
(that will make the recommendation on this issue)
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building
Conference Room 137
3900 Commonwealth Blvd.
Tallahassee, FL 32399
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Beth Tate 