The Fish Island Preserve is a natural wildlife area within St. Augustine's city limits. The city owns a chunk of the 62-acre passive park. The state owns the rest. | Noah Hertz, Jacksonville Today
Published on August 13, 2026 at 12:23 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
St. Augustine is aiming to make it harder to pave over the roughly 30 acres of city-owned conservation lands.
The City Commission advanced a measure this week that would change the city’s charter to require a unanimous vote to remove a parcel’s protection.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
What that means is that all five members of the City Commission would have to agree to remove the conservation designation from a tract of land, or to significantly develop a property, for it to happen.
Up to now, only a three-vote majority was required.
The measure was brought forward by Vice Mayor Barbara Blonder. Speaking during a City Commission meeting Monday, she said ensuring the city’s conservation lands are protected will keep areas like Fish Island Preserve off State Road 312 natural for future generations.
Several speakers supporting the measure brought up the 2024 protests against proposed development in Anastasia State Park. The state pulled those plans, but Blonder said the incident was a reminder of “how easy it can be to lose something that is near and dear to us.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
“That’s why we’re here today,” Blonder said. “To ensure this legacy will live on in perpetuity.”
The measure was unanimously approved on first reading, but it will need one more approval by the City Commission before it becomes official.
Conservation conversations continue
In addition to St. Augustine’s land protections advancing, the St. Johns County Commission will discuss funding for its Land Acquisition and Management Program next week.
Funding for the program has been up and down in recent years, and the St. Johns County Commission will consider adding a ballot measure for the upcoming general election that would allow the county to issue bonds to fund it.
Just recently, one of the properties the county had identified as a top priority for purchasing and maintaining as public conservation land was purchased by homebuilder Ashley Homes.
Commissioners will discuss a proposal for voters to decide in November whether they support the county’s taking on debt to help pay for the purchase of conservation land. That debt would be repaid with money the county collects from local property taxes.
The discussion is scheduled for the County Commission’s meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be in the County Auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View and will be broadcast live on the county’s website.
