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County Adding Tract To River Preserve

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

SUN CITY - Wildlife has a good chance at keeping some room to roam after county commissioners approved spending $480,000 to buy 28 acres on a peninsula between the Little Manatee River and Hayes Bayou.

The long-sought acreage, nestled in a bend of the river, will become part of more than 2,100 acres acquired on the east side of U.S. 41, south of Sun City. Funding comes from the county's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program.

Known as the Little Manatee River site, the larger tract spans Interstate 75, extending east to the Little Manatee River State Park and including some other parcels bordering the state preserve to the north and south.

"It was one of the first sites approved in the ELAP program," said Kurt Gremley, who negotiates land purchases for the 20-year-old program. "We've been trying to acquire it for a long time, and it was primarily just a matter of price."
County officials provided information to commissioners indicating the property takes up most of a 30-acre peninsula they unsuccessfully tried to buy in the 1990s. Since then, the property owners have died, and their heirs agreed to sell the land for $460,000, or about $16,800 an acre. Commissioners agreed to spend up to $20,000 for transaction costs.
Independent appraisals gauged the property's value at $550,000 to $660,000.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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