The St. Johns County Land Acquisition and Management Program recently put out and all-call for any residents interested in selling natural and open space land within the county limits.
The program is looking to acquire additional land to use for conservation and passive recreation opportunities.
Its goal is to further promote the ecological communities of the area, as well as preserve and maintain the natural green space and water resources of the county, while also hosting historic, educational and scientific activities on the lands.
Anyone interested in offering up land to be considered for county purchase must go to www.sjcfl.us/lamp to fill out a land acquisition application stating details about the property and where it is located.
The application is a vital first step in the process and must be signed by the land’s owner because the program only enters the selling process with those who are willing to sell and enter the negotiation process.
Board members may then nominate a property to the program using the application form as the background for that nomination.
There are certain stipulations for the land to be nominated, as it must be located within the unincorporated areas of St. Johns County and cannot be inside the city limits of St. Augustine or St. Augustine Beach.
Once successfully nominated, the property will then go through a evaluation matrix that scores the property as a whole, using various criteria, such as, water resource protection; wildlife and habitat management and protection; passive recreational value; and any manageability, economic or acquisition issues.
It will then be placed on a ranking list by the conservation board and the top five scored properties are then recommended annually to the Board of County Commissioners to be included for acquisition.
Following approval, that is when negotiations for the property will begin by the staff of the St. Johns County Real Estate Department and the property owner. Offers are made based on fair market value and by independent appraisers.
The final contract agreed upon must be approved by the Commission for it to become official.
It is important to remember that the land purchased can only be used for conservational and preservation purposes and cannot be used for commercial reasons once obtained by the county, as part of being entered into the program.
Some of the properties that have been acquired by LAMP with assistance from the Florida Communities Trust Program over the years include, Southeast Intracoastal Waterway Park, Fort Mose, Nease Beachfront Park and Beluthahatchee Park.
LAMP board meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the first month in each quarter, so they meet five times a year, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.in the St. Johns County administration building auditorium located at 500 San Sebastian View in St. Augustine.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 8.
