Editorial: Stay the course to get Maratea land at beach

Editorial: Stay the course to get Maratea land at beach



Publication Date: 10/11/07


When opportunity knocks, open the door cautiously.

That's especially true if tax dollars are going to pay the bill.

The St. Augustine Beach City Commission is considering buying about 10 undeveloped acres on the oceanfront between A1A Beach Boulevard and the ocean, north of Sea Colony.

The former London Tract, now Maratea, was put up for sale in February by the St. Augustine Development Company of Orlando. The sale price for all 20 acres is $16 million to $23 million. The developers blamed the flat condo market as the reason to sell the land instead.

The city wants to buy Maratea's northern half and has enlisted Trust for Public Land to negotiate the price. TPL is a national nonprofit agency that assists local governments in buying land for conservation.

So far, the owners and TPL are stalled, TPL said last week. TPL won't reveal the price or other considerations under discussion. That's OK. The two sides are still talking.

In the meantime, the City Commission is optimistic of a resolution. The commission has asked its attorney to draft an ordinance authorizing a referendum on the land buy for next September. The commission has put the proposed ordinance on the agenda for its November meeting.

The commission has acted responsibly. It could have said, "We'll sell bonds." The commission could have tapped into another revenue source, such as sales tax to repay a bond, without going to a referendum.

Instead the commission moved to do it right: Ask the voters if they want to be taxed for this purchase.

Starting the process early gives voters plenty of time to learn about the proposal and it gives TPL and the owners more time to work out a deal.

TPL's involvement is important.

For example, Land adjacent to the Fort Mose Historic Park in North City was purchased by St. Johns County through TPL.

Anytime a public agency can acquire undeveloped, oceanfront land in Florida, it should exhaust all efforts to do so.


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