Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would sign the bill to law to bar his administration from doing exactly what he proposed last year: building golf courses, hotels and other destructive amenities on state park land.
His signature would, of course, represent another step of an extraordinary and rare – reversal for DeSantis, who came after a tsunami of pressure politicians and the public exerted on the plan.
Faced with that overwhelming backlash, DeSantis shelved the design and said that, contrary to the former environmental workers who worked on the plan, he had nothing to do with their creation.
DeSantis was asked by a Times reporter on Wednesday if he would sign the bill following the roundtable event in Tampa. He solved the months of speculation and politics in one word, and replied “Yes.” He did not elaborate.
Eric Draper, former director of Florida State Parks under DeSantis, said the governor’s comments were “a big relief.”
“The governor had to respond to the fact that there has never been such a strong outflow of support that is beneficial to our environment,” Draper said. “Tentens of thousands of Floridians expressed support for state parks before and after the legislative meeting, making the bill our biggest environmental priorities.”
Draper said the governor should continue to utilize strong bipartisan support for state parks by ensuring that the state’s existing 175 parks will be fully funded and provided to staff in the future. The governor’s comments on Wednesday about his intentions serve as a key milestone in a decades-long battle to protect the park from developers.
“The problem we always face in the park is that someone comes along with an idea of how to make a business venture on public land. I think this bill sends a strong message that the idea is no go,” Draper said.
In addition to the ban on building state park sports facilities and hotels, House Bill 209 also requires the state to complete a report by December 1, which will obtain an inventory of necessary repairs for state parks and propose plans to address them.
It will also require that the public have at least 30 days of notice prior to the hearing to increase transparency regarding proposed changes to the park. When the park plan controversy broke out last year, Floridians only had six days to absorb the news as an hour-long hearing was scheduled for around the state, almost at the same time.
DeSantis’ signature on the bill would limit a nearly one-year scandal representing one of his first challenges to power within the state. However, since his bid for the president failed, DeSantis has seen his influence fade away.
It is unclear exactly when he will sign the bill. Lawmakers unanimously passed the measure last week, but they have not officially sent it to his desk. If lawmakers do that, they will cause a seven or 15th deadline for DeSantis to act, depending on whether the legislative session has been postponed.
Rep. Peggy Gossett Saidman, a Highland Beach Republican who was one of the House sponsors, said the bill “may turn out to be one of the most monumental laws passed in Florida history.”
“It allows us to hold our native park forever full of scrubs and pine forests, crystal springs, wetlands and waterways and indigenous wildlife,” she said in a text message.
Senator Gale Harrell, a sponsor of the Senate, said he was “pleasant to hear” the governor’s comments that he plans to sign the bill. She didn’t know his intentions until she heard news of what he said from the reporter.
“I was a little worried at first, but that’s just great news. I’m excited about it all,” Harrell said in an interview Wednesday. “The protest and public refusal of the idea of developing a park were very important. I think it would be difficult not to sign the bill.”
The Harrell district is home to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the largest park in southeastern Florida, and Floridas Club Jay, the only endemic bird species in the state. Last summer, the administration’s plans required more than a tenth of the park, or more than 1,300 acres, to be converted into golf courses.
Now she has an idea as to where DeSantis should sign the bill.
“I want to invite him to Jonathan Dickinson and sign him there,” Harrell said. “I think that’s very appropriate.”
Times staff writer Kirby Wilson contributed to this report.
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Original issue: May 7, 2025, 1:42pm
