ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A five-acre parcel of woodlands is at the heart of a debate, both locally and at the state level.
The wooded area is part of Anastasia State Park, but it's on the west side of A1A. The City of St. Augustine would like to build a fire station on it.
Neighbors say it’s more valuable left alone.
Laurin Johnson grew up playing in those woods. Now, as an adult, she still loves walking through them. She and some friends surveyed the woods Thursday, taking an inventory of the trees and wildlife. They documented what’s inside the woods near their homes.
"This is the Madeira Heights Maritime Hammock," Thomas said.
They’re trying to make a case for state decision-makers to leave this area untouched
"We’re gathering as much information as we can to show them this is conservation habitat," Thomas noted.
Let's back up to explain the situation.
Less than a mile down the road in St. Augustine, at the intersection of Red Cox Drive and A1A, right on the curve by the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, there have been several crashes.
St. Augustine Fire Chief Carlos Aviles described it as "a very dangerous curve that has been the site of numerous crashes and pedestrian and traffic fatalities."
Some neighbors and some city government leaders have pleaded with the Florida Department of Transportation to make it safer. So the DOT came up with a plan to expand the intersection, but there’s a hang-up. There's a fire station at that intersection. It's outdated and in the way of the DOT’s plans.
The City of St. Augustine would like to build a new, better-equipped fire station anyway and government leaders are eyeing a property less than a mile away on A1A, which is that same wooded area of state park land that Thomas and neighbors love so much.
It's just across from the St. Augustine Amphitheater.
"I do understand the importance of a new fire station, however this is a natural barrier for my mom’s neighborhood and all of our neighbors," Thomas said.
Inside the woods are tall trees and 15 foot tall dunes. Neighbors who live just across the street from these woods say the natural land serves as a wind barrier, a sound barrier from the traffic noise and amphitheater concerts, and as natural flooding protection.
Their solution to keeping this spot natural and to the traffic crashes down the road, according to Thomas is a traffic light by the woods. "If we had a light here, it would stop people, and you would not get the speed you get to at that curve," Thomas said.
The Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council still needs to make a decision if the state park land is considered surplus or conservation, and that will determine the future of this wooded area, of the neighborhood next to it and of a future fire station.