Fish Island deal closes; city of St. Augustine will manage land. (SAR)

By Stuart Korfhage
Posted at 12:27 PM
St, Augustine Record
NFLT, in partnership with the State of Florida, negotiated the deal to purchase the property from the owners for a price of $6.5 million. The property was acquired with funds from the Florida Forever program that the Florida Cabinet approved in July. The state is now the official owner of Fish Island and the city of St. Augustine will manage the property.

Both the North Florida Land Trust and the city of St. Augustine announced Thursday that the deal for the purchase of Fish Island is now complete.

NFLT, in partnership with the State of Florida, negotiated the deal to purchase the property from the owners for a price of $6.5 million. The property was acquired with funds from the Florida Forever program that the Florida Cabinet approved in July. The state is now the official owner of Fish Island and the city of St. Augustine will manage the property.

“This is a significant day for the St. Augustine community who worked for more than a decade to save Fish Island from development,” said Jim McCarthy, president of NFLT, in a release. “We were happy to be a part of the efforts to preserve this natural resource. Fish Island is a healthy maritime hammock forest and preservation will help avoid water quality impacts to the Matanzas River. It is also a historic property that is an integral part of St. Augustine’s history.”

Fish Island is a 57-acre property located on the Intracoastal Waterway immediately adjacent to the State Road 312 bridge onto Anastasia Island. Jesse Fish built his home on the land in the 1700s. It was the first orange grove in Florida and gave birth to the citrus industry. At one time, there were approximately 3,000 orange trees on the island, and the citrus was exported to England and Spain.

St. Augustine Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman was one of the local leaders who helped make the deal happen. She spent approximately 14 years working to protect Fish Island and called the acquisition a gift and investment from Floridians to future generations. She said the proposed plans for the development of the land had been growing on the radar of citizens over the last 10 years and preserving this land is simply the right thing to do in this time of rapid development and growth.

“Considering all the efforts and ‘stars that had to align’ it is somewhat of a miracle that Fish Island will be preserved for future generations,” Freeman said in the release. “The effort would not have been a success without the commitment and support of community activists, the landowner, their attorney and representatives, local government leadership, state government leadership, staff from our government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, bank representatives, expert valuations and reporting, media coverage and funding from Floridians.”

The city of St. Augustine release thanked many of those involved, including Sen. Rob Bradley, Jim Young, and Sid Ansbacher, working with the Division of State Lands, NFLT and the city. Also, the Friends of Fish Island, the Matanzas Riverkeeper, the St. Augustine City Commission, and “the people of St. Augustine who supported this project ultimately saved this land from development.”

As the owner of record for the conservation lands, the state of Florida will execute a lease with the city of St. Augustine. The city will have one year to complete an approved management plan that will outline the future improvements on the property over the next 10 years. The plan will include management and protection of the natural and cultural resources of this passive recreational park, as well as a conceptual site plan depicting site improvements such as a small parking area, walking trails and interpretive signage.

The development of the management plan will include multiple public meetings for community input.

The Matanzas Riverkeeper and the community group Save Fish Island will soon host a volunteer event to clean up the property.

In the early part of next year, there will be an on-site community celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the official opening of the park that will include guided walks on site.