Citizens protest proposed development at Honeymoon Island State Park

A crowd gathered at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin on Aug. 27, 2024. (Photo by Mitch Perry/ Florida Phoenix)

In the Pinellas County city of Dunedin on Tuesday, dozens of people demonstrated in 95-degree heat at the entrance of Honeymoon Island State Park against a plan by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to construct lodges, golf courses, pickleball courts, and disc golf courses in nine state parks.

While many of the speakers extolled the pristine barrier island’s 385 acres of beaches, hiking trails, and wildlife, St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Lindsey Cross asked aloud why the proposal was happening at all.

“The motivation behind these changes and the rushed secretive process is not only bad government, but it reeks of corruption,” she said as a crowd of 100 or so people formed around her. The proposal was “too large and too risky to be fast-tracked outside of extensive study and through public research,” Cross declared.

“But you know, scratch that,” she added. “It’s too risky to be allowed at all.”

Dubbed the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” the proposal has been met with bipartisan criticism from elected officials, environmentalists, and regular citizens since news broke last week about the development plans. Since then, the foundation behind a proposal to build golf courses at one of those parks — Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County — has announced that it was withdrawing its application.

Similar protests organized by the Sierra Club were held at three other state parks and the front steps of the department’s headquarters in Tallahassee on Tuesday.

Regarding the development plans at Honeymoon Island, the department said the proposal is to construct up to four pickleball courts in the upper portion of the park’s South Beach Access Area, “where existing amenities and an abundance of parking may complement and support the proposed new recreation experience.”

“The beauty and the value and the wildlife that you can see in our state parks is amazing, and I’ve also talked to a lot of pickleballers,” said Dunedin City Commissioner Jeff Gow.

“People who actually play pickleball do visit our state parks. They just don’t play pickleball while they’re doing it. So the idea of attracting a new set of people to get them to appreciate our state parks is just misguided.”

Most visited park

The city of Dunedin administration released a statement last week on social media stating their opposition to the proposal.

“Honeymoon Island, the most visited state park in Florida with more than one million visitors a year, is known for its pristine beaches and natural habitat. It is clear, given the number of visitors a year, the park should remain just the way it is. Active recreational facilities such as pickleball courts will negatively impact the natural environment that we celebrate and generate noise that will be detrimental to the wildlife we treasure. In addition, any active recreational facilities will add to traffic congestion in and around the area that is already of concern for our community.”

Dunedin resident Michele Birnbaum said she was concerned that the “little bits of what’s left of wild Florida are disappearing within our lifetime.”

“This beautiful piece of land was placed in the care of the stewardship of the state of Florida,” she said. “And as stewards, you have the responsibility to protect this special place. And part of being a steward of a wonderful park is to preserve its natural value.

“Once you place pickleball courts in this park, what’s next? Are we going to get a golf course? Are we going to get a resort? We’re very fortunate that they’re only proposing pickleball here at Honeymoon Island, for now.”

The proposal has received scorn from top Republicans in Florida, including Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, two members of the state’s Cabinet (and potential 2026 gubernatorial candidates) who work with the Governor to manage state lands.

“Public lands should be enjoyed and protected,” Simpson said on X last week when the news of the proposed development plans broke. “We have to be really careful when we talk about building infrastructure in state parks.”

St. Petersburg resident Caroline Chomanics held a sign that read, “The public says no to destruction.” She called the department’s moves “super out of touch.”

‘Testing the waters’

“I think that this is testing the waters, so to speak, with the Florida public to see what they will and will not allow, and I think that events like today, people coming together, don’t approve of this,” she told a reporter moments before the rally officially started. “It doesn’t make sense for our landscape, and this is a really big gesture that we’re making to say that we’re going to protect our Florida state parks.”

Gow said that if the department were serious about improving state parks, “then get serious.” He said park visitors would welcome amenities like kayak launches and mangrove trails at Honeymoon Island.

Rep. Cross, an environmental scientist, noted that the last state park added to the system — Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park — was built in 2017, and said that since then more than 2.5 million people have moved to Florida. She added that the Legislature needs to fully fund Amendment 1, the 2014 constitutional amendment that called for the Legislature to spend a certain amount of money to buy environmentally sensitive lands, but it has come up far short.

“What we need today and going forward is a commitment to create more parks and increase public access to nature,” Cross said. “Making outdoor recreation and nature-based experiences is a worthy goal, but selling our public lands to the highest bidder is not only wrong, it is a dereliction of duty to the people of this state who have consistently voted for and dedicated more of their hard-earned money to protect water and land.”

The public hearings on the proposed development plans were originally scheduled to take place on Tuesday, but after the public uproar the department announced on Friday that they would be rescheduled sometime next week, although no details about times or places have been announced. Members of the public can submit comments regarding each of the eight parks where such plans are still being considered by going to the FDEP’s “Great Outdoors Initiative” website.