TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that a controversial proposal by his administration to develop golf courses and pickleball courts at state parks is “going back to the drawing board.
” Questioned by reporters Wednesday, DeSantis worked to distance himself from the plan, which prompted hundreds of to gather at the parks and sparked rare , including from Florida’s Republican U.S. Sens.
Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. “If people don’t want improvements, then don’t do it,” DeSantis said. “They’re not doing anything this year.
They’re going to go back and basically listen to folks.” The Republican governor’s Department of Environmental Protection unveiled the plans last week and had planned a single hour of public hearings near the nine affected parks. Amid growing outcry, , and the agency delayed hearings until at least next week — if they happen at all.
The plan for golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in southeast Florida was scrapped even before the governor’s statements Wednesday. The main proponent of the development, a nonprofit called Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, backed out of the plan over the weekend. DeSantis’ press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, had touted the proposal as a needed effort to expand recreational opportunities in the state.
“Teddy Roosevelt believed that public parks were for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and we agree with him. No administration has done more than we have to conse.