by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Earlier this week, several City Council members got a first-hand look at 548 acres of property on the Northside that Mayor John Delaney wants to add to the City’s Preservation Project. Council members Faye Rustin, Lynette Self, Warren Alvarez, Mary Ann Southwell and Elaine Brown joined Council president Jerry Holland on the tour.
Delaney is asking Council to approve $7.95 million in taxpayer money to buy the 548-acre tract which is the home to several species of birds, plenty of other wildlife and some of Jacksonville’s best, untainted views.
The land is also being pursued by developer Safa Mansouri, who has offered the owner, Gerri Betz-Jackson, a little over $1 million more than the City for the property. Mansouri has proposed a gated, low-density development for the land and has assured the City he would also sell back more than 180 acres to the City in exchange for permitting and infrastructure assistance.
The tour, which was led by Preservation Project Jacksonville executive director Mark Middlebrook, was an attempt to convince Council members to buy the land and set it aside as a publicly available nature preserve.
Here’s a sampling of comments from Council members about the site:
“It’s a beautiful piece of property. It always has been. Nothing has changed.”
— Warren Alvarez
“Very beautiful, really nice. You want the City to take ownership. You want to see that not just to preserve the land, but to assure people get to use it for ecotourism and not hide it in the back of the house.”
— Jerry Holland
“It’s gorgeous and a real asset for the future. The tour doesn’t influence me one way or the other. Looking at it, even without seeing it in person, I know it’s a good purchase for the City.”
— Lynette Self
“I think it’s stunning; it absolutely takes your breath away. The public doesn’t have too many opportunities to enjoy a place like this. People travel to see places like this and here we have one in our backyard. The tour, to me, just really brings that into focus. I understood what it looked like from maps and shots we have, but to be here magnifies the beauty even more. I really am already sold on the fact we should provide more access to the water.”
— Elaine Brown
“It is a beautiful piece of property. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen spoonbills in the wild. This provides an opportunity for more people to appreciate the beauty of that area. That [the tour] was just icing on the cake because I’ve heard about the area from when I was on the Tree Hill board. I didn’t get up there to see it, but a number of people told me it was a real treasure.”
— Mary Ann Southwell