With Atlanta-based developer Jim Jacoby of JDI Marineland looking to offload properties in Marineland, Flagler County government and three state agencies are working to acquire 35 acres of JDI land in a joint purchase coordinated by the North Florida Land Trust.
Flagler County, the University of Florida, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection tried to buy the land in 2020 but were not successful. More recently, it was Jacoby who approached the Land Trust to restart discussions. The four entities would split the cost, which is not yet known. The county is conducting the required appraisals.
The land is zoned for mixed use, which could be housing or commercial development, or both. There’s long been rumors and speculation that JDI would build up the place, transforming the character of Marineland. The acquisitions would protect some 35 acres from development, immediately adjacent to a wildlife corridor, though it is unclear whether the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Science would use its portion of land for conservation or expansion of its operations there.
“It’s got multiple partners pulling together to preserve this area and it’s got a lot of historic and ecological qualities for preservation,” County Commission Chair Andy Dance said. “The fact that we’ve been able to pull all the agencies together through the North Florida Land Trust is a great sign that we can come together on it.” Florida Forever would be part of the quartet of partners.
Based on current mapping, the land sale would divest JDI of all but one parcel in Marineland, a 76,000-square-foot square-shaped parcel on the ocean.
The acreage Flagler County would acquire would include land along the Intracoastal Waterway and acreage up to the Marineland Marina, owned and operated by the town, such as it is: Marineland has been teetering on political, if not quite yet financial, insolvency, with legally questionable maneuvers its acting mayor, Dewey Dew, pushed through recently to keep its town commission functional. (See: “An Ugly Town Meeting in Marineland as Questions Hang Over Legality of Mayor’s Unilateral Appointment of a Commissioner.”)
It’s not helping the town that Marineland’s Dolphin Adventure, its principal economic engine, is in bankruptcy and for sale. The potential Land Trust acquisition has nothing to do with Dolphin Adventure properties. “It’s certainly not something that Flagler County would pursue,” County Commissioner Leann Pennington said. “We should not be in the business of dolphins.”
The county’s Land Acquisition Committee placed the Jacoby parcel on its priority list, lining it up for potential purchase with the county’s Environmentally Sensitive Land dollars. That revenue is generated from a small property tax surcharge voters have repeatedly approved by referendum to finance acquisitions of properties to be preserved in perpetuity.
“This is exactly what the ESL is intended for,” Penningon said. “This is one of those properties I think everybody in Flagler County wishes to see preserved. To me, this is one of those gold standards of the ESL program.”
Whitney Lab has been seriously hampered by the poor condition of a 51-year-old sewer plant operated by JDI, on a portion of land that would be part of Flagler County’s acquisition. It’s operational, but it’s not being maintained.
If Flagler County were to be part of the purchase, the sewer plant would become county property. JDI is clearly interested in offloading that responsibility. Flagler County is more leery of taking it on, as it would essentially mean taking ownership of a rickety system in need of significant repair, assuming it can be repaired.
The county prefers to remove it once water and sewer lines extend all the way to Marineland as part of the county’s transition from septic to sewer across throughout the barrier island. They currently do so up to Mala Compra Road. It’s unclear when the funding would be available to extend the lines all the way to Marineland. In the county administration’s view, acquiring the sewer plant could be a spur for more state funding to pay for that last extension.
Last Monday, County Administrator Heidi Petito got the County Commission’s support to have an engineering firm evaluate the condition of the so-called package sewer plant and provide options to the county, “so that if we are looking to purchase the property,” Petito said, “we know what we’re up against as far as whether or not we would look to remove the system, whether we need to rehab it, maybe build a master lift station, do a interconnect to Palm Coast, or whatever options are out there. I’m not looking for us to get back into the utility business. That’s not it at all. But if we are to acquire the property, I think removing the wastewater off the barrier island makes a lot of sense.”
Pennington, the county commissioner, said Jacoby is not interested in a piecemeal approach to the sale. It’s all or nothing. Dance said ESL funds are sufficient at the moment to account for the county’s portion, though no sale price has been set.
“No one wants to see that area turn into housing development. So it’s important if we can contribute to it,” Pennington said.
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