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A few acres at a time

Oldsmar helps the Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve expand with its recent purchase, keeping the land away from developers.

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published April 29, 2005

OLDSMAR - There are now 4 more acres in Oldsmar that will never see a building site plan.

The city recently purchased 4.6 acres just south of Bicentennial Park on Lafayette Boulevard to add to the Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve, which already encompasses 300 acres.

The $206,000 land purchase was made possible with a $103,000 grant from the Florida Communities Trust. The city and Pinellas County footed the rest of the bill. The trust, an arm of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, awarded about $66-million this year to localities across the state for the preservation of open space and environmental protection.

"With the skyrocketing price of real estate here in Florida, it has become imperative for communities to acquire park space, and to do it as quickly as possible because land is being scooped up for development all the time," said Stacie Anderson, spokeswoman for Florida Communities Trust. "As new developments are going in, these cities also have to figure out how to provide places for these new residents to recreate."

Oldsmar parks and recreation director Lynn Rives said the additional land will enable the city to plan a nature trail that one day could run from the preserve's northern support area, which is on Lafayette Boulevard, to the southern portion at the end of Shore Drive.

"Those lots were kind of in the middle of the property, so with this acquisition... it's all contiguous now," Rives said.

The newly purchased portion is just south of Bicentennial Park and is mostly uplands, with an abundance of palmettos and palm trees, Rives said. The city bought the land from four property owners, one from St. Petersburg, one from Lake Wales and two from Council Bluffs, Iowa.

There is still a great deal of cleanup to do before the land can become part of the preserve.

At the top of the list is getting rid of an overgrowth of Brazilian pepper trees. The green leafy plants have bright red berries akin to a holly tree. The trees are considered one of Florida's most invasive plants.

Once the cleanup is done, the area will "offer some trail connection opportunities," Rives said, "but for the most part the land just keeps the integrity of the preserve together."

In the past several years, the Mobbly Bayou Preserve has been at the forefront of the city's parks and recreation department's efforts. The city has spent about $300,000 to install kayak docks, a playground, picnic tables and two floating docks. Two former sewage tanks at the entrance of the northern portion of the preserve were recently converted into observation decks. Murals depicting the area's natural habitat were painted on both tanks.

- Nicole Johnson can be reached at njohnson@sptimes.com or 727 771-4303.

[Last modified April 28, 2005, 08:32:07]