St. Joe Hits Snag with Florida Golf Courses

St. Joe Co. is planning a community called WaterSound North in Bay County, which is set to include 1,300 homes, several Florida golf courses and a retail development with restaurants and shops on Lake Powell. It will be located the North end of Highway 98. All this will be built soon, unless St. Joe’s is stopped short by a preliminary injunction, which has halted construction due to a suit filed by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for issuing a permit to St. Joe in June of 2004.

St. Joe’s apparently remains unflustered by the lawsuit, since it only affects areas that are under the Army Corps permit. The company owns about 80% of the land in the area, and continues to work on areas unaffected by the lawsuit. The development will eventually be a gated community with a beach, private pool club, outdoor fireplace, recreational park, and private putting green with several Florida golf courses. The homes will be connected by an extensive biking and walking path that will be accessible by golf carts as well.

The Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council are against the housing community, which would allow St. Joes to build on over 30% of a 48,150 acre area. Construction would also destruct 20% of the wetlands. Members of both organizations claim that the permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers is illegal. They are concerned that the destruction of the wetlands will endanger Florida’s natural resources.

The St. Joe’s Florida golf course construction on the areas under the Army Corps permit was stopped on November 10 after US. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan issued the injunction. The decision about whether or not the permit will remain valid will be made in February. Until then, St. Joe’s will continue to work on developing the residential, retail and Florida golf courses of WaterSound not under the Army Corps Permit.