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Julington and Pottsburg headwaters preserved

by Linda Bremer |
Nov 24, 2008

Since 2000, the Sierra Club monitored development activities and worked to preserve the headwaters of Julington and Pottsburg creeks on the south side of Jacksonville from development. The site was to be known as an addition to the Freedom Commerce Centre. Today, we are proud to say the land has been preserved, in part due to the efforts of the Northeast Florida Group.

Freedom Commerce Center is a large (DRI) mixed use development project in southern Duval County adjacent to I-95. The project site contains the headwater wetlands for Julington and Pottsburg Creeks, major tributaries to the St. Johns River, a designated National Heritage River. Julington Creek is an Outstanding Florida Water. The size of the proposed wetland impact is between 126 and 200 acres which will be directly impacted. The headwater wetlands include mature forested wetlands and they provide a variety of functions typically found in a functioning high quality wetland system.

In 2003, Sierra Club along with other environmental groups and neighborhood groups organized to opposed the water management permit for the construction of apartments, big box stores, roads and offices in the wetlands of the swamp. The proposed destruction of such a massive area of important wetlands and headwater swamp brought the citizens to their feet and they responded with letters to the permitting agencies, to the newspapers. They attended rallies, donated time and money and attended the public hearings at the water management offices in Palatka. Throughout the legal appeal of the permit, many Sierrans attended to listen to the testimony.

Then in May, 2005 the Corps of Engineers denied the permit of the Goodman Company developers. Although the state administrative judge ruled in favor of the developer, the prospect of continued litigation over very wet land caused the state to step in and offer a land exchange which would purchase the disputed swamp acres and provided protection for the headwaters of two major tributaries to the St. Johns River. The final transfer of land took place in late July 2008.