Hernando officials approve leasing Weekiwachee Preserve land for park

After years of community debate over creating greater public access to the Weekiwachee Preserve, the Hernando County Commission this week unanimously approved seeking a 20-year, no-cost lease that would allow creation of a 350-acre passive park there.

To resolve the matter, the county has scrapped plans to create a beach at this time.

The lease terms will now go to the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which owns and manages the sprawling 11,200-acre preserve, for its consideration.

The land that Hernando County would manage is in an area that includes several old mining pits. The water management district has said it does not consider a beach an appropriate use for the property.

The lease would grant public access to the preserve from a parking area on Shoal Line Boulevard. The main access now is off Osowaw Boulevard just to the west of U.S. 19 in Spring Hill. Visitors have informally entered from Shoal Line across several properties, but in 2022 Hernando County bought an abandoned restaurant site that is slated to become a parking lot.

The plan is eventually to construct a bridge across the narrow canal between the preserve and Shoal Line Boulevard and the businesses on the road. A boardwalk, walking trails, restrooms, a kayak launch and picnic pavilions are planned by Hernando County.

Under the draft lease, the district would maintain strict control over what the county may do on the property, reviewing and approving any plans. The district would also have to approve any alterations to the construction plans after initial approval.

The county would be allowed to provide educational opportunities on the property but that would be limited to posting signs around the park.

The lease also specifies that the county must minimize any harm to “natural systems and any water resources.”

Over the years, creating a beach in the preserve was discussed several times. At one point, the county proposed a detailed list of amenities at a $7.7 million price tag but never specified how it would pay for them.

As county officials pushed hard after buying the parking lot on Shoal Line Boulevard, water management district officials made it clear that they were not interested in the intense usage that the county was proposing under the name “Mermaid Lakes Recreation Area.”

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Vocal residents from Hernando Beach and Weeki Wachee also urged the county to abandon the idea as did a group that took up the cry “Preserve the Preserve.” Others who have supported using the preserve to promote tourism saw the proposal as a plus for community economic prosperity.

Swimming has gone on in the rock mines for years despite water management district prohibitions. Under the lease terms approved by the Hernando commissioners, “under no circumstances shall the County allow swimming at the park and shall post signage to that effect. Any such violation of this paragraph shall constitute a material breach of this lease.”

The preserve is home to a small group of black bears. This week Hernando County commissioners said they were happy to see the local Sierra Club chapter dropping some of its previous concerns about the county plan. Commission John Allocco said that the county wants to work with the organization on its ongoing concern about visitors potentially coming into contact with the bears.

“We can work with the bear aware program to make sure that whatever we build, it minimizes the risk of bears coming in,” he said, adding that he has seen effective methods in other areas including trash bins that won’t let bears get into garbage.

“This is an awesome opportunity for us to all work together from both sides of the aisle to come up with a product that benefits the county as a whole,” Allocco said.

But the Sierra Club of the Adventure Coast didn’t quite sign off on the preserve plan. In a Facebook post, group chairperson DeeVon Quirolo wrote, “The development of an artificial beach and swim area in the preserve is clearly the county’s ultimate ambition. A path for achieving this goal is now being proposed by the District.”

The lease leaves open a possibility of allowing the county to develop a beach in the future, she said.

“This is completely inappropriate. The lands could be declared surplus and then the County could proceed with developing a beach/swimming area as initially proposed,” Quirolo wrote. “This type of development would result in the transition from passive to active recreation within the preserve and negatively impact our imperiled bear population and other wildlife.”

Hernando County Commissioner Brian Hawkins, whose district includes the park area, said he could not get on board with the previous beach plan but he strongly supported the new proposal and was also happy to see that Sierra Club representatives had walked back some of their objections. He said another bonus is the businesses along Shoal Line getting use of a the bridge and boardwalk into the public lands.

“This is going to be a gem for Hernando County,” Hawkins said.

Hernando Beach resident Pat Coggins said he was happy to see that the preserve would now be maintained and he saw another upside as well.

“The more visitation we can get in the park, it creates awareness and awareness is going to help with conservation as well,” he said. “It’s a big win all the way around.”