North Port commission approves revised terms, selects 15-acre carve-out at Warm Mineral Springs

The North Port City Commission voted 5-0 on May 19 to approve revised general terms and to adopt parcel map option B to facilitate a conservation easement between the city and Big Waters Land Trust for part of Warm Mineral Springs Park.

The action approves the high-level terms staff presented and confirms the location of a 15-acre exclusion area (option B) from the conservation easement. City manager Jerome Fletcher introduced the item and Parks and Recreation Director Sandy Funheller told commissioners that staff, Big Waters Land Trust and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation had worked together over the past year to identify funding and to configure the exclusion area for environmental protection and potential low-impact amenities.

"Provided there is agreement with the updated general terms document, staff will incorporate this into a draft conservation easement and submit for legal review," Funheller said during the presentation. She also identified $115,000 from the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program for year one of invasive species removal and an additional $50,000 pledge from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to support years two and three of the removal effort.

Supporters from the conservation community urged the commission to proceed. Christine Johnson, president of Big Waters Land Trust, said the organizations had negotiated for nearly two years and that community support and outside grant funding made the next step appropriate. "Please direct staff to proceed to the next step, drafting the conservation easement," Johnson said.

Commissioners debated whether to retain a larger exclusion area (20 acres) to preserve flexibility versus a smaller footprint that avoids sensitive hydrological and archaeological areas. Assistant Parks Director Ter Sturgis told the commission the trailhead restroom and immediate parking would require less than two acres, a point commissioners used to judge how a 15-acre carve-out could still serve the proposed trailhead and facilities.

Elena Ray, the city's director of development services, provided land-use context and said that, from a planning standpoint, 15 acres could support a substantial building footprint but that the intent of the conservation easement would determine allowable intensity. Staff emphasized the general terms document is not the final conservation easement and will undergo legal review before being recorded.

The motion to approve the revised general terms and parcel map option B was made by Commissioner Duvall and seconded by Vice Mayor Langdon; the commission voted 5-0 to adopt the direction. Following the vote, staff said they will prepare the draft easement language, complete the required lot-split survey and forward the document for legal review and finalization.

The decision sets the commission on a path to preserve most of the Warm Mineral Springs property while designating a limited exclusion area to support a trailhead and potential low-impact amenities. The conservation easement still requires drafting, legal review and a subsequent formal recording process.

Next steps: staff will incorporate the commission's direction into a draft conservation easement for legal review and prepare the lot split survey required to implement the parcel configuration.