By Kate Kimmel
The Nassau County Conservation Land Acquisition and Management Committee voted Oct. 30 to recommend that county commissioners vote to acquire Piney Island land and enter into a conservation easement with the owners of St. Mary’s Farm.
The county’s acquisition of 43.1 acres on Piney Island is its top-ranked conservation priority, said Joshua Macbeth, a senior planner and designer with the Nassau County Planning Department. The proposed purchase price is $2.48 million, which the county expects to offset with $1 million in federal grant funding and a partnership with Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
If acquired, the land would be opened for public recreation with boardwalks, fishing piers, kayak launches, and biking and walking trails. Macbeth said the site’s primary conservation goals include improving water quality, mitigating flooding and storm surge, and protecting rare and declining habitats.
Nassau resident Forest Tilly, who owns property adjacent to the proposed acquisition, told the committee he supports protections for native wildlife. He urged the county to avoid filling wetlands when developing park features.
After voting on Piney Island, the committee received a presentation from Macbeth on a proposed conservation easement at St. Mary’s Farm. The easement would bar development or commercial expansion on 599.9 acres of the property, including 2.4 miles of river frontage.
Under the proposal, the county would pay the landowner $2.1 million, the appraised value of the development rights that would be extinguished. The agreement would allow the county to hold two single-day events per year on designated portions of the property and conduct annual site visits to verify compliance.
Macbeth said the easement’s conservation goals include preserving water quality, protecting rare and declining habitats, and supporting sustainable forestry. The ability to host two events annually would also benefit environmental education efforts, he said.
Both recommendations now head to the Board of County Commissioners for a vote. If approved, the Planning Department would begin work on recreation plans for Piney Island and implement conservation measures at St. Mary’s Farm.
kkimmel@nassaunewsline.net
