There is an urgent need to stop a commercial development that plans to destroy wetlands, along a tributary of the St. Johns River, called Shell Creek. It is a quiet, little visited habitat for Manatee, numerous bird species, otter, nesting Sandhill Cranes and Bald Eagles, among many others. The parcel is the site of an Archaic Indian Mound and is 82% wetlands. It sits in the Wekiva-Middle St. Johns Aquatic Preserve in the heart of the Wekiva-Ocala Corridor and is targeted by the Group A, State of Florida, Florida Forever land acquistion program. The parcel is contiguous to the State land of Hontoon Island State Park and the Trust for Public Lands. The developer works for a large commercial construction company and is attempting to place urban density in what is currently zoned as Rural land use at 1 dwelling per 5 acres. They propose to build 54,000 square feet of indoor structures including: 2 restaurants, a pool, a spa, a gift shop, a yoga pavillion, a pool cafe, a playground, an arrival lounge, a bus turn around, 2 parking lots (to accomodate close to 200 vehicles), 100 pre-fabricated space ship looking hotel pods, a facilities room/storage/electrical room, employee offices/breakroom/lockers, a boathouse facility, docks, a dredged pond/canal and a sewage treatment plant. The vast majority of this commercial infrastructure will be built in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, National Wetlands Inventory and Lake County and State of Florida designated wetlands. The guise is to label this development as "Ecotourism" while simultaneously destroying the floodplain swamp and forested wetlands they propose to appreciate. This is the worst kind of environmental deception.

The well intended Ecotourism Policy in the Lake County Comprehensive Plan calls for passive recreation. It defines Ecotourism as a: "Low-impact form of tourism that involves visitation of natural areas, agricultural areas or archaelogical sites. Activities such as hiking, biking, canoeing, horseback riding, wildlife observation and eco-tours are considered low-impact forms of ecotourism. Furthemore, the Comp Plan defines Passive Recreation as: "RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT GENERALLY DO NOT REQUIRE A DEVELOPED SITE. This generally includes such activities as hiking, horseback riding, wildlife appreciation and picknicking. Passive recreation involves existing natural resources and has A MINIMAL IMPACT which can be carried out with LITTLE ALTERATION OR DISRUPTION TO THE AREA IN WHICH THEY ARE PERFORMED. 

The rhetorical question is: Does a commercial resort with 54,000 square feet of buildings, new roads and water, sewer and electrical infrastructure, built in an Aquatic Preserve, in a County designated Rural Protection Area, with 82% of the 54 acres being designated as wetlands, constitute Ecotourism? It does not.

My family previously owned this property and we know it's inherent value is in keeping it in a natural state, as did the owner before us and the owner after. This is the true definition of ecological and the intent of environmental stewardship. Both adjoining private landowners, both previous owners and many environmental groups, private citizens and other stakeholders oppose this development. This proposal is not ecotourism by definition, spirit or intent.

Building a commercial resort in an ecologically sensitive rural area, one with special designations both by the State and the County, and in the process destroying wetlands, disrupting native species and bringing hundreds of cars, delivery trucks and people per day is not ecotourism. This is not an issue of right and left but right and wrong. Please help stop the madness and Save Shell Creek.