[wzslider]The volunteer gardeners at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in South St. Petersburg plant onions in the September heat, sweating into the dirt and liking it.
Among them is Hayden Hammerling, a USF St. Petersburg student completing an internship under the guidance of head gardener Ray Wunderlich. Wunderlich directs his intern on proper form as they dig deep ridges in seaweed compost with gloved hands. The seaweed keeps moisture in and meddlesome pests out, according to Wunderlich.
“Coffee grinds are good too,” Wunderlich says. “Nematodes don’t like organic matter.”
As they work, their conversation spans subjects like determining the gender of papaya plants, the metamorphosis of stink bugs and just how much space should be left between seeds.
Later, they take a break around a picnic bench in the shade for a few minutes, and the discussion turns to something that they have been talking about a lot lately – the fate of the strip of land on the western edge of the preserve.
#
In June, the St. Petersburg Country Club struck a deal with development company Taylor Morrison of Tampa to convert the 10 acres of unused land along the backside of its golf course into 115 townhomes.
The club has been facing financial difficulties, and the directors are pursuing the project in an attempt to make it more sustainable.
Though the club owns the land, it was originally designated for a road by the City of St. Petersburg. In order for construction to proceed, the deed to the land would have to be reviewed and city council would have to vote to approve a permit and change the zoning to multi-residence housing.
The land is also the only remaining buffer zone between Boyd Hill and surrounding development.
A coalition of activists immediately formed to oppose the project. The group, organized through a Facebook page called “Save Boyd Hill,” currently has 2,460 likes. Awake Pinellas and Friends of Boyd Hill are among the organizations involved, and The Florida Native Plant Society, Audobon and The Sierra Club have expressed interest in the cause.
The activists describe this land as a “critical buffer zone” that keeps space between the wilderness and the outside world. It is made up of an oak hammock and pine flatlands ecosystem that could potentially house endangered and threatened species found throughout Boyd Hill, including the gopher tortoise, eastern indigo snake and Sherman’s fox squirrel.
Jim House is one of the central organizers behind the Facebook group.
“We can kill the project in a hundred different ways, it’s just putting the effort in to make one of them work,” House said.
House said that it doesn’t make sense to keep infringing upon green space, and especially when “this is not even a development that is in line with the neighborhood itself. We’ve had no transparency from the club.”
Many home owners who face the strip of land have put up “Save Boyd Hill” yard signs. The president of the Lakewood Estates Civic association supports the development project, but House said that there is a rule that the housing zone can only be changed if the neighborhood association is in full support of it. He said he hopes to bring the issue to a vote.
House said one major disappointment so far has been how few local students have come out in support of the issue. He currently works and studies at USF, and he “expected to see more environmental science majors involved.”
“Sadly, we’ve had more kids from Eckerd,” House said. “Really counter-intuitive.”
At the moment House is pushing for volunteers for a flyer campaign in the residential areas around the preserve next weekend. He said that anyone interested in volunteering for “Save Boyd Hill” can send them a private message on Facebook.
If the project does go forward, Boyd Hill will have to clear their own trees and brush to create a new buffer zone. There is also concern that having development so close would prevent them from staging prescribed burns, which are essential to preventing wildfires.
#
Wunderlich and his volunteers are opposed to the project, though some of them noted that the club has every legal right to the land if they can get approval.
As they debated the issue around a growing harvest-pile of okra plants, the sound of cicadas erupted in the trees.
“There’s no legal standing,” said a volunteer named Dennis. “We can either let them do it or we’re going to have to buy it. The city doesn’t have money, and the homeowners probably wouldn’t put enough up for it.”
“Their argument is that they will go eventually go bankrupt if they don’t do it. But it’s a short term solution that will have long term effects on the park,” Hammerling said.
For Wunderlich, one of the biggest problems will be caused by the road surrounding the townhomes.
“The road would parcel up the land. Then there would be road kill, runoff, grease and an altered water flow.”
They might use harmful fertilizer for their fancy landscaping,” another one of the volunteers said.
“Years ago they wanted to build a big lake, and that time actually on park property,” Wunderlich said. They wanted to do a land swap. Two acres with no value for prime land in Boyd Hill proper. That didn’t happen, so we’ll see.”
Wunderlich has been visiting Boyd Hill since he was a child, and he is a lifetime member of the Friends of Boyd Hill association. He said that he feels “people need to restore a lost connection with their food and with nature.”
“It’s hard because people are emotional about this, and we’re losing something we thought was ours,” Hammerling said.
Despite their worries about the situation, the volunteers show no hesitation when they get to. The demonstration garden that they take care of is used to educate the community on growing organic fruits and vegetables, and they donate the produce to local schools and organizations. Their largest harvest to date was around 1000 pounds.
Hammerling is also helping Wunderlich build a kid’s garden on the other side of the park. All the materials used will be re-purposed, and it will be geared towards pre-school through elementary ages.
“It’s the best part of my day,” said Hammerling as he wiped dirt from his jeans.
#
Taylor Morrison has until September 30 to submit a new project model to to city council.
Someone has already marked trees for removal and cut down brush in the area, though no such action has been approved.
