Committee votes 5–4 to pursue review of 44‑acre Pine Island tract adjacent to Buttonwood Preserve

A committee vote edged 5–4 to recommend that staff conduct additional review of a 44‑acre Pine Island tract adjacent to Buttonwood Preserve, despite staff warnings about access, restoration needs and a sharply increased asking price.

The motion—moved by a committee member and carried after brief discussion—directed staff to follow up with the property owner and pursue further due diligence rather than immediately rejecting the nomination. The parcel is owned by OrthoAir LLC (listed in the agenda as Ronald Gardner).

A staff member told the committee the seller had raised the asking price from an earlier estimate of $16,000 per acre to $60,000 per acre and that, at that price, staff believed the parcel was above market. The staff member said the parcel scored 27 points under the committee’s acquisition scoring (and would score 31 points if treated as contiguous to the existing preserve). The staff member also described access problems: "The property has no legal land access," the staff member said, adding, "You can't get to it by land. You can't get to it by water."

Staff recommended that, if acquisition were to proceed, the purchase agreement include seller obligations to remove nonnative trees and irrigation infrastructure and to level fields to restore conservation characteristics. The staff member said the county would require a Phase I environmental audit (and Phase II if indicated) to assess potential contaminants from past agricultural use.

Barbara Manzo of the Eyes on Conservation 2020 Coalition urged the committee to act, saying the parcel "has all the frontage right on Stringfellow Road and ... next to a healthy thriving salt marsh property that is already Conservation 2020. I think you all know where this property is going if it isn't purchased for 2020." Manzo acknowledged restoration challenges but warned that delaying purchase risks losing the tract to development.

Committee members questioned whether required removal, grading and environmental remediation would be feasible or affordable if the parcel were bought at the current asking price. One member noted that some parcels acquired in the past had remained unrestored for years; another asked whether Parks and Recreation could convert the land into a park, which staff said would not be the typical outcome for a Conservation 2020 parcel.

The committee’s motion instructed staff to seek the owner’s input on what conditions the seller would accept and to return with additional information. The motion carried 5–4; individual roll‑call votes were not captured in the transcript.

What happens next: staff will follow up with the property owner, pursue environmental audits if warranted, and return to the committee with additional findings and any recommended purchase terms.