‘We did it!’: St. Johns County leaders celebrate after Guana land swap proposal withdrawn

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Florida State Representative Kim Kendall and other St. Johns County community members celebrated Tuesday after a developer withdrew its application for a controversial Guana Preserve land swap amid outcry.

“We did it!” Kendall, a Republican from St. Augustine, proclaimed during a news conference with county leaders Tuesday morning.

The developer withdrew a proposal that involved exchanging 600 acres of protected land in St. Johns County’s Guana Preserve for conservation land elsewhere.

Kendall said she is committed to pursuing legislation aimed at preventing such land swaps in the future and ensuring state parks are not developed.

“In my opinion, this was a workaround,” she said. “We’re going to try to button that down as hard as we can, which will also include giving more than three business days’ notice.”

She also said she wants the state to look into purchasing 104 acres owned by the company that sits next to the preserve.

“I’m already working with the staff in Tallahassee on what my options are,” she said. “I am fully committed. I have already reached out the representation for the applicant, I would like to sit down with him. He said in his letter, the applicant remains committed to preserving Florida’s natural habitat and supporting the state’s conservation efforts. In that regard, we look forward to continued conversations on the preferred method of preserving Florida’s conservation lands and how we may contribute to that critical goal.”

Kendall thanked the community and others who spoke out, including President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who spoke out against the plan over the weekend.

Local, state and national leaders joined the conversation in the last several days.

Florida Congressman Byron Donalds shared on X, “I stand with the residents of St. Johns County: Guana Preserve is NOT for sale.”

News4JAX received a copy of the withdrawal from officials with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the law firm representing the applicant.

The letter states that Upland LLC believed the “5 to 1 acre land swap would have been a net positive” for Floridians, and its withdrawal is “due to public sentiment resulting from misinformation.”

“To be clear, there was never an intention to develop the acquired land for commercial or community development purposes. Rather, the swap would have resulted in additional acres for Florida land conservation,” the statement reads.

RELATED: St. Johns County residents oppose Guana River Wildlife Management Area land swap

If the deal had been approved, about 600 acres of protected land in St. Johns County’s Guana Preserve would have been exchanged for 3,000 acres from four plots of land throughout the state.

Public outcry and disapproval were poured out as neighbors to the preserve and conservationists said it was a bad idea.

MORE | St. Johns County residents say they didn’t know about Guana River land swap

Wiles, who has decades-long ties to Northeast Florida, called for members of the Acquisition and Restoration Council on Monday to vote down the “land grab,” referring to it as “outrageous” and the developer a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Guana River Preserve Activist Nicole Crosby said she was elated.

“I just saw the word withdrawal, and somebody had written we won above it, and I was like, Oh my god. It can’t be yes. It is. I just thrilled, very happy, relieved. I felt like I could finally exhale,” Crosby said.

But the fight isn’t over, she said.

“I’m almost afraid to throw the sign away. I feel like if I throw the sign away, I’ll regret it. So the signs are going to stay in the garage probably forever, but I hope we’ll never need them again,” Crosby said.