The fight over a piece of land near Tarpon Springs is illustrating, once again, just how much development pressure exists in Florida.
A developer wants to build a 404-unit luxury apartment complex on a nearly 74-acre property along the Anclote River. Prior to this, Walmart was trying to build on the property. But, the citizens of Tarpon Springs have filed three lawsuits stopping both plans from going through.
Florida’s housing market is growing, while its land conservation is shrinking. In places such as Tarpon Springs, animals are losing their homes and are dying due to urban expansion.
More than 1,100 manatees died in Florida last year in part because of pollution caused by developments and road runoff.
Peter Dalacos, president of Friends of Anclote River, says, “When they come in and clear out the trees, they go running, and they have to find a new home, and there’s less and less homes for them to find.”
“They find places to move around, but you keep taking the land and they come into your backyard. And then people complain. Well, you move to be with nature yet you don’t want nature there,” says Dalacos.
Last year, new housing complexes grew faster in the Tampa Bay area than any other major U.S. city, according to an Omnis Study. For example, the $3 billion Water Street project used whatever was left of Tampa’s public land downtown for developments.
“The way Florida is going right now, especially after COVID, and all the people moving, they’re just cutting up vacant land as fast as you can go,” says Dalacos.
If more housing developments are built it will make it harder to control weather events. The Anclote plot is a coastal high hazard area. That’s according to the Pinellas County Emergency Management and Public Works Department.
For neighboring homes this means an increase in insurance. The city of Tarpon Springs found over 80 percent of the property is projected to flood in the next 25 years.
“It’s environmental, historical, flooding, traffic, and the alternative is preserving nature for everybody to enjoy,” says Dalacos.
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