Agenda Item Name:
Title
Options for providing public access to Alachua County Conservation Lands which lack public road frontage.
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Presenter:
Andi Christman, (352) 264-6803
Description:
Alachua County, through the Alachua County Forever Program (ACF) and the Wild Spaces and Public Places (WSPP) surtax funding, has acquired environmentally significant lands within the County. A small percentage of these lands lack public road frontage, therefore limiting the ability to provide public recreational access to these properties. This is an informational update provided at Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) request on potential strategies to provide access to these sites.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Hear the presentation and provide direction.
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Prior Board Motions:
On 11/8/2022 - The BoCC directed staff to return to the Board with a plan or options for providing the public with access to lands acquired through the ACF program which lack public road frontage. This direction was given during the Boards consideration of exercise of the Option Contract for Santa Fe River - Waldo Tree Farm property, which is accessible to staff via a non-public easement, but which lacks public road frontage.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
NA
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
Environment
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Background:
Alachua County, through the Alachua County Forever program, has acquired 88 properties, totaling 33,037 acres of environmentally significant lands since program inception in 2000. The mission of the Alachua County Forever program is to acquire, improve, and manage environmentally significant lands that protect water resources, wildlife habitats and natural areas suitable for resource-based recreation.
Over the past 23 years all properties acquired through the program have been acquired with legal access for county staff and/or partner agency staff to manage and protect the property. In addition, the majority of properties acquired as fee-simple acquisitions through the program have been acquired with a connection to a public road.
Some exceptions to this standard have occurred, including:
• Properties acquired as conservation easements which are not publicly accessible.
• Properties acquired as inholdings within other public conservation lands or which are adjacent to other public conservations lands, where those other public conservation lands have connections to public roads.
• Properties acquired as a part of a planned, phased acquisition strategy including an eventual future public road frontage phase.
• Properties acquired with the county gaining access easements, or the right to utilize privately maintained roads, as a part of the acquisition which allow staff access to the properties for management, but which do not readily enable public recreational access.
• Donations of land, and fee simple acquisitions of the Alachua County Forever Program with critically significant resources.
Of those properties acquired as fee simple acquisitions, but without public road frontage, to date only nine acquisitions totaling 469 acres remain without public road frontage. Of these nine acquisitions, which represent 1% of the Alachua County Forever total conservation land acquisition portfolio, five were donations by the landowners.
The majority of Alachua County Forever program acquisitions have existing or potential future public access. This includes 28,711 acres of fee simple acquisitions across 63 property acquisitions and represents 86% of the Alachua County Forever acquisition portfolio. However, for a small number of properties this is not as readily provided, nor as appropriate given site sensitivities, limitations, or types of staff access available. For these, some strategies may exist for public access in non-physical manners.
Some Options being explored and implemented include:
• Virtual Access - Public access may be provided in virtual ways using a multi-media approach.
o Video access or other virtual access (slideshow on web-based storymap, etc)
o Website
o Social Media
• Storysheets - A pdf summary document about each preserve to be available through the upgraded Alachua County Forever page on the County public-facing internet page. (Exhibit 2)
• Guide visitors to preserves with similar habitat that are open to public access so that similar habitats and resource experiences can be gained.
• Schedule staff guided public visit days - announced publicly and provided by staff via staff transportation. This is a staff intensive option which is not suitable for some sites.
• Preserve remain available by appointment only - Current approach.
Another option is to pursue establishing physical access as possible for some acquisitions:
• Negotiating or purchasing public access easements if owners are willing.
• Purchasing adjacent properties which front public roads from willing landowners as possible. This technique has been used previously.
• Pursuing County ownership/management of private roads. This depends on willingness from private landowners, will impact additional County departments, and will still not be the appropriate option for some properties.
The staff recommendation is that while the Alachua County Forever program mission does include provision of resource -based recreation it is only directed to the sites which are suitable for such access. The Alachua County Forever program mission includes and prioritizes protection of water resources, and wildlife habitat, and that priority does not always align well with public access, though the program goal is to maximize that alignment.
Of the current properties lacking public road frontage, none are suitable for resource-based recreation, at least in part due to their lack of public road frontage or public access easements, but also due to habitat sensitivity, and disproportionate staff investment needed to facilitate access. The cost/benefit analysis for these sites for both the county staff and resources, and the potential quality of citizen experience does not support prioritizing significant additional investment toward public access when other sites which can provide longer trails, and more efficient access for more citizens would yield better results from that investment. Alternative, non-physical access types should be pursued for these sites, but emphasis on physical public access within the Alachua County portfolio of lands should remain on sites with legal access options, and for which the habitat resources on site can tolerate the impact of public access.