Disney drained the swamp around Orlando. Our shorelines were tamed with trucked-in white sand, and the native plants in our yards were swapped out for high-maintenance Bermuda grass. This state’s history and topography are forever being altered by an industry trying to impose its will on the land—and Largo is no exception.
East Bay Drive is busy with traffic as it approaches the intersection of Highland Avenue. Highland looks like it ends here, but past the intersection, there’s a little more road that dead-ends at the Largo Central Park Nature Preserve. Hidden in plain sight are 31 acres of thick Florida wilderness trail. Birds, alligators, turtles, tortoises, and even river otters all reside among the cabbage palms and cypress knees. Boardwalks run around a lake, and walking paths along Long Bayou. A portion of the 43-mile Long Bayou Watershed runs along the property, a crucial waterway for storm drainage.
Next week, Largo voters will decide whether the city can sell 88 acres of an old landfill adjacent to the preserve to a private developer. The landfill has been closed for decades, but the land and area around it is some of the last remaining green space in Largo. The proposed project is a sprawling tourist destination sports complex dubbed the “Preserve.”
“Our vision is to take a landfill that has been closed since 1981 and has served no public benefit over the last 40 years and turn it into a destination that the residents of the City of Largo can enjoy,” Porter told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in an email. “In addition to creating a place to enhance the quality of life for citizens, the Preserve can be a substantial economic driver to the surrounding business community.”
Some residents oppose the project and started organizing after Largo leadership wanted to push for a referendum. Debbie Sarcone lives in the 55-and-up New Haven Condominium community and is also the HOA’s board president. Sarcone and her neighbors are just south of where Porter wants to put the Preserve.
“The city wants to force any runoff from the new development through the existing ditches near us,” Sarcone said. “How much water do you think it can continue to hold without impacting the neighborhoods around here? We just dodged a bullet, but all it takes is one bad storm, one bad rain event.”
Sarcone got together with other residents to form Vote No on 2, a grassroots effort against Porter’s well-funded campaign. The Tampa Bay Times endorsed the sale, writing off residents’ concerns about noise and traffic. (Editor’s note: CL recommends a “NO” vote on Largo’s Referendum 2)
If that happens, the two-lane road will probably turn into four-lanes.
“It will have signalized access on East Bay Dr, which is a major arterial road that connects the Beaches to Tampa,” Porter told CL.
Like fellow New Haven resident Megan Jetter, Sarcone and others think it’s a bad idea. Jetter’s become the unofficial spokesperson for the Vote No on 2 campaign.
“That land being empty or minimally used protects that preserve,” Jetter said. “It’s a huge buffer. And it’s a buffer for the surrounding neighborhoods as well.”
Porter argues that the preserve is already exposed to those threats.
“We are developing next to a Nature Preserve,” Porter told CL in an email. “So, there is obvious concern we are going to disrupt the wildlife. I would point out that the Preserve is located in the City surrounded by Urban noise currently. There is a road and a parking lot in the Preserve currently. We believe that while we will likely create additional noise and traffic. The disruption will be minimal.”
Jetter says Porter is contradicting himself.
“Mr. Porter admits that yes, it will affect the wildlife and the Preserve; we just don’t know how much,” Jetter said. “Well, your advertising says it’s not going to affect it at all. So which is it?”
Jetter says that before Hurricane Ian, Porter gave a presentation where he said the sports complex could serve as a hurricane shelter for the community. As it turns out, Jetter says it’s located in a flood zone.
Former University of South Florida Biologist Dr. Jeannie Mounger says changes to the property adjacent to the nature preserve could impact the wildlife. Mounger was part of the group that helped save the USF Forest Preserve last year. That’s after USF tried and failed to sell part of the preserve to developers looking to build a golf course. Mounger and others fought back, arguing it was part of the statewide wildlife corridor and essential to the watershed. Indigenous remains were also found on that site. She spoke with CL from Finland and voiced concerns about the Largo project. “Who knows what else is under there and what the surrounding communities might face in an exposure?”
Mitigation and remediation of the property nearby have already been an issue. In 2008, the Tampa Bay Times reported that arsenic contamination was found in levels 11 times higher than is safe. The contamination, which the city knew about beginning in 2002, was thought to be from the property’s proximity to the landfill, but it was never confirmed. In 2013, the park reopened after the cleanup was completed.
“The city is going to wash its hands of it, and whatever kind of remediation would need to take place in order for this developer to build,” Mounger said. “It would then fall into the developer’s hands to complete. I saw the development plans for this giant crystal lagoon, and you know they will have to dig into this landfill and break the surface. Who knows what else is under there and what the surrounding communities might face in an exposure?”
Largo’s Mayor, Woody Brown, is a vocal proponent of the project.
“It’s never been done, and I think it’s never been done because the city is concerned about taking the risk of dealing with that landfill. This developer is a private developer that’s willing to take that risk, and I think it’s kind of a no-brainer,” Brown told WFLA last week.
If you ask Porter, the property is an old landfill long past its used-by date.
“The concern over losing green space confuses me,” Porter told CL.
Losing green space has major impacts ecologically and physiologically for Largo. A 2015 report by environmental activist and scientist David Suzuki showed how greenspace could reduce air pollution and cool down urban environments. But Porter says his plan is a better use of the space.
“The property has not been accessible to the public now and, to my knowledge, has not been for decades,” Porter said.
Except it has. The Largo Flying Club has been flying radio-controlled planes for 26 years through a partnership with the City of Largo. Asked to describe what it’s like to fly there, club president Tom Wojciechowski says, “peaceful. It’s one of the only places you can go in the city, and it’s quiet.”
Because of its location, he and his 165 active club members can fly higher than other airspaces. The youngest club member is nine years old, and the oldest is 96. The club’s flying field will likely go away if Porter gets his wish.
“There’s nowhere else to go in Pinellas,” Wojciechowski told CL. “I’ve checked.”
“I told him it wasn’t safe to fly planes over people. He asked me how often the planes crash?” Wojciechowski said. “I told him all it takes is one.”
The city doesn’t have to sell the property to Porter if the referendum passes. But it very well could. And sure, Porter could develop a for-profit water park on an old landfill responsibly, but it’s a gamble. And yes, the preserve already sits in the middle of a busy corridor. But you’d never know it once you’re inside, and that’s kind of the point.
“If this project goes through, someday down the road, we can’t get that land back,” resident Jetter said. “What it boils down to is city officials aren’t looking at the bigger picture. They’re looking at money. What about the quality of life in Largo?”
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This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 2, 2022.