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Swiftmud, county disagree on preserve plan's status
By DAN DeWITT After discussions with the Southwest Florida Water Management District last week, the county moved closer to building a park and artificial beach in the Weekiwachee Preserve. How much closer, however, is a matter of dispute. Pat Fagan, the county's parks and recreation director, said Swiftmud gave it clearance to proceed with a plan only slightly different than the one it objected to a month ago. The new proposal includes the old one's most controversial component, Fagan said, a parking area with room for 400 cars. "I made it quite clear to them that we needed to stay with the 400 (spaces), and they didn't seem to have a problem with that," Fagan said. That means the park will have parking capacity about 21/2 times that of Pine Island, which is currently the county's main swimming facility, he said. Michael Molligan, Swiftmud spokesman, said the agency has not agreed to such a large lot. It needs more evidence that the park is large enough to support that many visitors, he said. "What we asked was that the consultant come back to us and make a strong case about how much carrying capacity that park has," he said. Swiftmud also asked for aerial photographs showing the exact boundaries of the wetlands on the property and the areas the county intends to develop. "We need it clearly delineated on a conceptual plan," Molligan said. The county agreed to make some other changes Swiftmud requested, Fagan said. The lot will be broken into two parts, one to serve the beach and another to serve the picnic pavilions. Also, only one of these lots will be paved and the other will have a porous surface. Gene Kelly, chairman of the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Committee, said he didn't want to make a detailed comment until he saw the agreement. But he said he could not support a plan that allows 400 parking spaces in the preserve. "I think 400 spaces is pretty ridiculous," Kelly said. Kelly recently wrote a guest column in the Times saying the lot is about the size of the one at the Weeki Wachee Springs attraction. Kelly, a Swiftmud employee, was not involved in the recent discussions with Fagan. Objections to the county's plan surfaced at the committee's last meeting a month ago. Swiftmud representatives pointed out that the preserve is not intended primarily for human recreation but to provide habitat for wildlife, which includes plovers, terns, eagles and bears. The proposed parking lot was too large, they said, the slide should be scrapped and, because of expansive wetlands, only about half the 30-acre park site was suitable for development. The county expects to pay about $1.5-million for the park, most of what was generated for the purchase of environmentally sensitive lands. This became available to develop the park after Swiftmud bought property near Bayport the county had intended to buy with its environmentally sensitive land funds. The revised plans will come before the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Committee, which will make a recommendation. Kelly has been the most vocal opponent of extensive recreational development in the preserve. Vice chairman Len Tria supported the county's original plan. The matter will then go to the County Commission, Fagan said, and he hopes the design of the project can be completed in the fall.
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