INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — One of the last major stretches of sand ridge in Indian River County could become a housing development after county commissioners rejected a $25 million proposal to purchase Hobart Scrub for conservation.
The property is located between Sand Ridge Golf Course and Old Dixie Highway.
The county had offered $19.3 million to purchase the 161-acre property through its Environmental Lands Acquisition Program, known as ELAP. The owner sought $25 million instead, but the proposed purchase failed to receive the supermajority vote required for approval., falling short of the 4-1 threshold.
Commissioner Joseph Earman said he supports preserving the land but could not justify the purchase price.
“I like this property. I value this property. I think it's a great thing to try to pursue, but I got to live within my budget,” Earman said. “$25 million is not in my budget as much as I [don't] want to say it.”
Hobart Scrub contains critical scrub habitat and is home to gopher tortoises. If the property is developed, mitigation efforts will be required by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Earman said losing the property to development could affect both its ecological value and the surrounding area.
“I don't want to see 700 or 1,000 homes there on this property,” he said. “I think it not only endangers the nature of conservancy part of it with the gopher toroises and other things that are there on that property, but to me, it also takes a little bit of the ambiance away of Sandridge Golf Course.”
Nick Schroth, a broker and appraiser working with the property owner, said the county's appraisal does not adequately reflect the land's value.
The owner has a contract with a developer to sell 140 acres of the property for roughly $25 million. The deal for the county would have included the entire 161 acres for the same price.
Schroth said the broader purchase would have offered the county more land for its money.
“The offer of the owner to sell the entire site to the county for $25 million is a discount when you break it down per acre,” he said.
ELAP received approval for $50 million in bonds to fund conservation land purchases. Commission Chair Deryl Loar said he was unwilling to allocate such a large portion of the program's funding to a single property.
“I don't believe the voters in November of 2022 expected us to spend 40% of the ELAP dollars on one particular project,” Loar said. “For that, I'm out.”
Following the board's decision, Schroth said he would return to the property owner and developer to move forward with the alternative plan.
“Bringing this today before the five of you just gives me the closure that I need to go back to the seller and the buyer and say, hey, this chapter is closing,” he said. “We can proceed with the chapter that we're currently looking at as an alternative here.”
With the conservation purchase rejected, the property could see housing development in the near future.