Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday indicated that he plans to sign a bill into law that would prohibit the building of golf courses and hotels in Florida’s state parks, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Pickleball courts and luxury lodges would be prohibited under legislation passed by the Florida Legislature following a public outcry against such projects that were pushed by DeSantis’ administration last year.
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Supporters said loud public reaction and protests last year against what DeSantis called the Great Outdoors Initiative were key factors in the governor’s subsequent decision to shelve it.
The legislation, supporters said, will ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“The public outcry, you could probably hear it all the way up to the moon or Mars,” said Rep. Lindsay Cross, a Democrat from St. Petersburg who attended some protests. The bill, she added, will “make sure our wild Florida stays wild.”
The bill doesn’t ban all types of development. But it requires that any projects be “conservation-based recreational uses” that support things like hiking, swimming, horseback riding, boating, nature study and other similar activities, according to a House staff analysis.
The Republican governor’s Department of Environmental Protection unveiled the development plans in August for nine state parks and scheduled only a single hour of public hearings before moving the projects forward.
Hundreds of people attended protests at the parks and in Tallahassee, many carried signs with slogans such as “Save Don’t Pave” and “Parks Over Profit.”
