Collier charts new public uses for Serenoa Preserve

A 150-acre North Belle Meade property acquired with Conservation Collier funds has been renamed Serenoa Preserve and will eventually offer public opportunities for hiking, photography, wildlife viewing, environmental education — and possibly fishing. 

The name was chosen after a public poll to rename Symphony Preserve, 11 properties purchased for $4.015 million in September. On Aug. 25, the Board of County Commissioners ratified its earlier Aug. 11 vote in absentia, which was approved by the county manager after that meeting was canceled. The vote approves an interim plan, which will be finalized in three years. 

The property is north of North Belle Meade Preserve, south of Golden Gate Boulevard and west of Everglades Boulevard. Access is through a gate at 20th Street Southeast. 

Conservation Collier was created in 2003 after county residents, in a November 2002 voter referendum, approved creating a taxpayer-funded land acquisition program by agreeing to a property tax increase of up to 0.25 mills — $25 per $100,000 of taxable property value — for up to 10 years and bonding for up to $75 million. Residents have overwhelmingly supported the program during three referendums, most recently in 2020, when 77% of voters passed it. Since then, an additional 2,333 acres have been acquired, resulting in 6,672 acres as of this month. 

The Conservation Collier Land Acquisition Advisory Committee opposed the interim plan because it allows the county’s Domestic Animal Services and a nonprofit animal rescue group to use nearly 19 acres. The plan says internal cattle fencing and gates are in place, and a barbed-wire fence encircles the entire perimeter of the preserve. DAS would use a 2.25-acre fenced-in area for temporary housing for stray or confiscated animals and part of an existing storage building to store necessary supplies. 

Possible partnership or lease agreements will determine which structures are retained, with appropriate maintenance requirements. While exploring potential partnerships, the plan says, “the program should prioritize the program goals for conservation and preservation of the preserve.” 

CCLAAC contended the animal uses were not consistent with Conservation Collier’s goals under the ordinance, which restricts land use to preservation and conservation. However, county staff recommended the plan. Conservation Collier owns other properties with cattle leases, and the uses will provide additional site security and surveillance and more opportunities for residents to visit the preserve, according to a memo to commissioners by Environmental Specialist Christal Segura of the county’s Environmental and Development Review Division. 

When the property was purchased, the plan says, there were several buildings, most to the west and south of a lake on the northwestern parcel. Most will be removed due to safety issues or because they were not permitted or built to code. A metal storage building with two roll-up bay doors will be kept for use by county staff, along with a metal residential building, while a wooden cabin and water equipment shed to the west of the lake may be demolished. Other structures, including chickee huts and covered shooting-range shelters, will be removed. 

A large, dilapidated barn was removed before the purchase. 

The preserve is currently closed to the public until trails are installed and unsafe structures can be removed, the memo says. Estimated costs for the first three years range from $35,000 to $58,000 annually for initial invasive vegetation removal, hiking trail installation, cabbage palm reduction and fencing and gate installation — plus $20,000 for possible structure demolition. 

After initial exotic vegetation removal and the addition of visitor and security amenities, ongoing maintenance costs are estimated at $30,000 annually for the next five years, with funds available within the Conservation Collier Land Management Fund. 

The plan says a quarter-acre area may be used for a Florida Fish & Wildlife or Collier County Sheriff’s officer, who would live on the preserve to provide additional site security, while 10 acres of open land could be used as an education area with a pavilion if the Collier County School Board builds a school next door.