Preserving Our Treasures: Paynes Prairie
01/03/08 00:27
All
I can say is we seem to take three steps forward and
2 steps back! The irony is palpable among us this
week when, in the midst of pulling the guide content
to completion, we were stopped in our tracks an email
from our friend Kathy Cantwell, who informed everyone
that the Gainesville Country Club Homeowners
Association wants the County Commission to "change
the land use on 25 acres adjacent to the Prairie from
recreation to multi family residential."
You would think that we would have learned by now that our beloved Prairie is beyond compromising for a few 'privilaged folks' but apparently we're still not there. Many already hold the awareness that we are the fortunate because we have this wild and largely unspoiled treasure. Others have come to understand that keeping the Prairie in its wild and natural state increases the value of the whole community. Its been our experience over the past 6 years that we had to justify the Prairie, economically before some would reluctantly agree to leave it alone. So here it is, We now know that our natural resources are worth more
economically if they are preserved rather than developed!
It is the truth. Below is an insightful article Stewart wrote to the Commission. It says it all.
Write the Commission at: bocca@alachuacounty.us
While the County Commission has approved the plans, there are still several steps ahead before the buildings are put in place. Please, stand up together for the Prairie!
Annie Pais
Hello Member of the Board of County Commissioners.
I am writing to you in regard to the motion to change development rights along the Prairie Rim, specifically at the Country Club.
It is ironic that I am taking time out from laying out the guidebook for the new HEART OF FLORIDA SCENIC TRAIL in order to write this brief letter. The trail guide is a portrait of Alachua and Marion Counties that is generating more interest than we ever believed possible. It is being seen as the 'state of the art' portrayal of our region as a place with cutting edge economic, environmental, cultural, and social ideas. Businesses are approaching us to ask how they can have copies to send out to prospective home buyers, students, and business clients. M.M. Parrish Coldwell Banker is going to give a copy to every new home buyer who works with one of their 135 agents in the area.
What is this portrait? That we are a place fortunate enough to have preserved our assets for decades. That these assets are now like money in the bank. They are what make us special. What are those assets: first and foremost our natural beauty. second: our preservation of ecosystems. third: a community that is concerned with quality of life on all levels. These assets feed our economy, keep residents and businesses in town, make us attractive to professors and researchers, and the list goes on.
This is not the time to reverse the trend. Giving up the views from the Prairie to allow a few buildings to be built is a poor precedent and bad policy.
I urge you not only to vote against this land use change, but to make a strong statement that the commission will never allow the integrity of the Prairie to be compromised.
I leave you with a final image: we don't have beaches or an ocean in this part of Florida, but for Gainesville and Alachua County, Paynes Prairie is like our ocean. It is one of the most bio-diverse regions of Florida, it offers tranquility to all our residents, it has a long and storied heritage. Miami lined its beaches with high rises and blocked the ocean view for everyone. Would we do this to our prairie.
I hope it doesn't start on your watch.
Thank you for your consideration,
Stewart J. Thomas
352-514-3838
palmstone@gmail.com
You would think that we would have learned by now that our beloved Prairie is beyond compromising for a few 'privilaged folks' but apparently we're still not there. Many already hold the awareness that we are the fortunate because we have this wild and largely unspoiled treasure. Others have come to understand that keeping the Prairie in its wild and natural state increases the value of the whole community. Its been our experience over the past 6 years that we had to justify the Prairie, economically before some would reluctantly agree to leave it alone. So here it is, We now know that our natural resources are worth more
economically if they are preserved rather than developed!
It is the truth. Below is an insightful article Stewart wrote to the Commission. It says it all.
Write the Commission at: bocca@alachuacounty.us
While the County Commission has approved the plans, there are still several steps ahead before the buildings are put in place. Please, stand up together for the Prairie!
Annie Pais
Hello Member of the Board of County Commissioners.
I am writing to you in regard to the motion to change development rights along the Prairie Rim, specifically at the Country Club.
It is ironic that I am taking time out from laying out the guidebook for the new HEART OF FLORIDA SCENIC TRAIL in order to write this brief letter. The trail guide is a portrait of Alachua and Marion Counties that is generating more interest than we ever believed possible. It is being seen as the 'state of the art' portrayal of our region as a place with cutting edge economic, environmental, cultural, and social ideas. Businesses are approaching us to ask how they can have copies to send out to prospective home buyers, students, and business clients. M.M. Parrish Coldwell Banker is going to give a copy to every new home buyer who works with one of their 135 agents in the area.
What is this portrait? That we are a place fortunate enough to have preserved our assets for decades. That these assets are now like money in the bank. They are what make us special. What are those assets: first and foremost our natural beauty. second: our preservation of ecosystems. third: a community that is concerned with quality of life on all levels. These assets feed our economy, keep residents and businesses in town, make us attractive to professors and researchers, and the list goes on.
This is not the time to reverse the trend. Giving up the views from the Prairie to allow a few buildings to be built is a poor precedent and bad policy.
I urge you not only to vote against this land use change, but to make a strong statement that the commission will never allow the integrity of the Prairie to be compromised.
I leave you with a final image: we don't have beaches or an ocean in this part of Florida, but for Gainesville and Alachua County, Paynes Prairie is like our ocean. It is one of the most bio-diverse regions of Florida, it offers tranquility to all our residents, it has a long and storied heritage. Miami lined its beaches with high rises and blocked the ocean view for everyone. Would we do this to our prairie.
I hope it doesn't start on your watch.
Thank you for your consideration,
Stewart J. Thomas
352-514-3838
palmstone@gmail.com