Oldsmar buys 77 acres for wilderness preserve

By ED QUIOCO

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 2000

OLDSMAR -- The swath of relatively pristine tidal marsh and swamp at the top of Mobbly Bay offers a glimpse of Florida's natural mosaic.

Waterways that feed the bay cut through a forest of white, black and red mangroves, wax myrtles, live oaks, slash pines and palmettos. Bald eagles, ospreys, pelicans, egrets and fox squirrels thrive in the natural environment.

Thanks to a recent land purchase, the lush ecosystem will remain relatively untouched while helping to educate the public about natural Florida.

Using a $1.4-million state grant, the city recently purchased the final piece it needed to create the Mobbly Bayou Wilderness Preserve at the top of Old Tampa Bay.

State and city officials closed the deal with 10 private property owners whose land made up 77 acres between Shore Drive and Race Track Road, just south of the Oldsmar wastewater treatment plant on Lafayette Boulevard.

The city plans to combine the 77 acres with an adjacent 125 acres of wetlands and uplands that Oldsmar already controls to create the wilderness preserve.

Plans call for the preserve to have boardwalk trails with signs identifying the plants, a canoe launching site and an environmental education center.

"This is a feel-good story for everyone concerned," said Bob Schweiger, a commercial and industrial Realtor with Arvida Realty Services in Clearwater who represented the 10 owners. "The real winners are the residents of Oldsmar and the people of Florida."

City officials began the process of purchasing the 77 acres in August 1998, when the city received the $1.4-million grant from the Florida Communities Trust. It is the largest grant the city has received for a single project.

Because the city bought the land from the property owners for only $1.1-million, the difference will be returned to the trust.

"So the state now has $300,000 to give to someone else," said Melodee Dinwiddie, the city's grants administrator. "It was much more difficult because we had to deal with 10 different personalities. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of different people, but it is such a worthy project."

The area that makes up the wilderness preserve was part of a planned subdivision that was carved into lots and streets in the 1920s but was never built. Most of the land is zoned for preservation and conservation, but even that would have allowed some low-density housing, said City Manager Bruce Haddock.

"Now the city owns it . . . and can make sure that it doesn't get developed," Haddock said.

City Council members will discuss a management plan for the preserve during their meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in council chambers, 100 State St. W.

"Now the hard work comes for the city," Dinwiddie said. "Now we have to implement the plan."

According to the plan, it will cost more than $500,000 to create the preserve. That cost includes surveys, engineering and design work and other studies; removing nuisance plants and replacing them with native vegetation; fencing the area; putting in a bike stand, 10 picnic tables, covered shelters, restrooms, a canoe launch, an observation deck and signs; and developing a parking area, boardwalk and wilderness trails, and an open-air classroom.

One of the things city officials have to discuss is where the city will get the money to create the preserve, Haddock said. The management plan calls for the city to submit grant applications to several federal and state agencies and private foundations.

The plan also suggests using volunteers and college researchers to develop the information on signs that will be used in the preserve to educate visitors about Florida's plants and wildlife.

The next steps for the city are conducting more surveys, doing engineering work and removing trash in the preserve, according to the management plan, which also details a schedule until 2008 for the preserve. Developing a trail can begin in about a year.

The preserve will be the second in the city. About 1,600 acres of the 8,500-acre Brooker Creek Preserve are in the city limits.

"It's unusual that you would find such large preservation areas in a community the size of Oldsmar, reflecting those different types of habitats and natural environment," Haddock said. "We might become a destination for eco-tourists."

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