Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, "Secrecy is for losers -- for people who don't understand the value of the information". Thanks to bipartisan Florida legislative opposition by Reps. Kim Kendall and Allison Tant. Yes, my friends, we need a federal and state investigation of this land swap. More here: https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2025/05/guana-landswap-proposal-driver-law-firm.html
Bipartisan outrage from Florida lawmakers, residents grows over land swap
ST. JOHNS COUNTY — As news spread Saturday of a proposal for the state of Florida to trade 600 acres of preserved land to a private company, so too did the outrage.
Locals and lawmakers of both parties expressed disbelief that another secretive attempt to develop beloved public land would crop up so soon. Less than a year ago, the public revolted when the DeSantis administration planed to add golf courses and hotels to state parks.
State Rep. Kim Kendall, a Republican from St. Augustine, sent an email blast to every member of the Florida House around 4:30 a.m. asking for help building opposition. She also emailed the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, asking them to reveal the identity of the person or company behind the proposal, she told the Tampa Bay Times. She said Saturday afternoon that the agency had not yet replied.
A committee within the state environmental department is scheduled to convene Wednesday to vote on the land deal. In the public agenda for that meeting, the company desiring the land is only listed as The Upland LLC. That entity was created in February and does not list any leaders — only a general business services company — on its paperwork filed with the state, making its origins unclear.
“Somebody needs to tell me something other than ‘Upland LLC,’' Kendall said Saturday. ”I’d like to have a conversation with whoever it is."
She is calling on her fellow lawmakers to speak out against what she said “goes directly against the spirit of the legislation we just passed” to prohibit development on state parks.
The 600 acres at stake in the latest deal is part of the Guana River Wildlife Management Area in northeast Florida. It’s owned by the state but isn’t a state park.
In return for that land, the company would trade the state about 3,066 acres from a constellation of other parcels in four counties. The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting says that state staff recommends the committee, called the Acquisition and Restoration Council, approve the deal. That would send the decision to Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson for a final vote.
Rep. Allison Tant, a Democrat from Tallahassee, agrees that losing the preserved land to development would be “an atrocity.”
“That land is the most gorgeous, most authentic, undisturbed beach land I may have seen,” she said. “It would be a disaster to see it mowed over and see multimillion-dollar properties built on top of it.”
Both Kendall and Tant, along with many of the protestors, had heard the same name rumored to be behind the proposal: Dream Finders Homes, a home-building company whose chief executive, Patrick Zalupski, lives in the area. Zalupski formerly donated to DeSantis’ presidential campaign and was named by the governor to the University of Florida board of trustees.
But neither Kendall nor Tant had been able to independently verify the speculation. 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.
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.
Hundreds of residents protested in St. Johns County, a deeply Republican area, with homemade signs Saturday. Many of them had taken to the streets less than one year ago to push back against the state park proposals.
“I’m getting whiplash out here. Once again, our land is under attack,” said Sarah Arnold, a St. Johns County Commissioner who joined the demonstration. “I’m disgusted, angry and frustrated that we’re out here doing this again.”
She held a sign depicting a gopher tortoise with an accompanying slogan: “I may be slow, but I know this deal is wrong!”
As the midday sun beat down, chants of “Stop the Swap!” roared as passing cars honked in support. A pack of motorcyclists cruising A1A revved their engines as they passed the protest, spurring cheers from the crowd.
Over the years, Stacey Strumpf, 38, said she has watched as her once-wild and green county has been converted to homes, golf courses and buildings. Since 1980, St. Johns County’s population has increased six-fold to more than 320,000 people.
“Even if you don’t live here, Floridians should be watching what’s happening in St. Johns County,” Strumpf said. “If they’re coming for us, they’re coming for the rest of the state, too.”
2 comments:
Ron Dishonest and Republicans did nothing while high prices persisted, working class people suffered, crisis after crisis they pretended it wasn't happening or politically opposed any efforts to deal with problems. They do that here in SJC too. Should be more than just a "tourist economy" by now yet they've merely continued to sit on their asses.
DeSantis wanting to extend his term limits through proxies just speaks to the times we are living in, megalomaniacs with no value for democracy only they overvalue themselves as leaders of some utopia that they supposedly created. Meanwhile, no Utopia can be found outside of their own delusional minds.
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