State parks proposal included pickleball, disc golf at Maclay Gardens, records show

The state's environmental protection agency considered building a disc golf course and pickleball courts at the historic Alfred B. Maclay State Gardens in Tallahassee as part of a now-shelved plan to offer more recreational opportunities at state parks. 

The Department of Environmental Protection formally released what they called a "Great Outdoors Initiative" at the end of August. The announcement included plans to build lodges and golf courses at nine state parks.

It's since been set aside after generating protests from residents and elected officials over development of land set aside for preservation and passive recreation. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who oversees the DEP, called the proposal “half baked” and denied any knowledge of its development.

A public records request by the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida and other news media produced an undated DEP memorandum explaining that a management plan amendment would be needed for 23 additional parks if building lodges and disc golf courses were to proceed.

Listed under the headline “Florida State Parks with additional capacity for new Recreational Opportunities” were six Panhandle parks.

In addition to Maclay Gardens, the proposal suggested land was available to build a disc golf course along the banks of Lake Seminole at Three Rivers State Park in Sneads, a lodge in the sugar-white dunes at Topsail Hill Preserve in Santa Rosa County; and pickleball courts and a disc golf course and regular golf course at Florida Caverns in Marianna.

“It's kind of like trying to put a square peg into a round hole,” Leon County Commissioner Brian Welch said about laying out a disc golf course along the flower gardens at Maclay.

Maclay Gardens qualifies as stop on 'American Camellia Trail'

The Gardens are a 1,176-acre oasis of azaleas, camellias, dogwoods, and magnolias and is located in the heart of Welch’s district. Its 150 different camellia cultivars mixed along with 60 varieties of azaleas qualifies Maclay Gardens as a stop on The American Camellia Trail, which includes gardens in 17 states from Pennsylvania to Florida and California.

Welch, an avid proponent of parks and recreation, was elected four years ago on a promise to build a county park with baseball and softball fields and a nature trail. But he said smacking pickle balls and launching flying discs are not appropriate activities for a botanical garden.

“We should leave our state parks as they are: natural. There is a place for active recreation in a community but where that should be should be left up to municipal governments like Leon County or the city of Tallahassee,” Welch said in a phone interview.

The botanical gardens at Maclay fit into Welch’s suburban district like a neighborhood park for many of his constituents. He said no one at DEP or the state had approached him about potential changes.

Once DEP released the Great Outdoors Initiative, many of the protests focused on a proposal to build a golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, a habitat for the Florida Scrub Jay, a threatened species, and a pickleball court at Pinellas County’s famed Honeymoon Island State Park.

Within a week of the announcement, however, the agency cancelled public hearings and pulled the proposal from public consideration.

When the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida requested a copy of the additional capacity memorandum as well as additional records related to information about Maclay Gardens, an agency spokesperson provided a two-page document listing 23 parks and said the proposals are stalled for the time being.

The department "will not be moving forward with any of the proposals at this time, including the items in this document that were never brought forward for consideration. Instead, we are shifting to discussions with our local park managers, and we will revisit any park improvements, if needed next year,” Alexandra Kutcha said.

Florida operates 175 state parks that cover some 800,000 acres. Some have staunch supporters that have long resisted efforts to develop them.

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com and is on X as @CallTallahassee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Maclay Gardens at risk? Plan called for pickleball, disc golf course