The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) heard an initial request for a large-scale development on 4000+ acres known as the Lee Property. Much of this property, which spans both sides of Parker Road west of Haile and east of the City of Newberry, is in a designated Strategic Ecosystem called the Hickory Sink. It is an important aquifer recharge area, has environmentally sensitive features, and is important habitat for many imperiled plants and animals.
This property was discussed at a Public Meeting on October 2, 2023 @ 5:30 PM as a 
third Stakeholder Neighborhood Workshopat Terwilliger Elementary School (Multipurpose Room), 3999 SW 122nd St., Gainesville, FL 32608 to discuss the FCL Timber, Land & Cattle, LLC Special Area Study.
We learned at this meeting that the original proposal for a massive development on 4,068 acres was tossed out and a new plan was presented to the public. This time, the proposal calls for 3,400 acres of this sensitive land to be set aside as conservation land. The remaining acreage, located on the north side of the property abutting the Oakmont neighborhood to the north and the Haile neighborhood to the east, is to be donated to UF for a golf course.
This proposal will go before the County Commission on Tuesday, November 7th at 5:00 p.m. The Special Area Study report and related information can be found here. A staff report will be available at this same link in early November.
In the meantime, Commissioner Ken Cornell will attend the October 25th NR Zoom meeting to discuss County land use policy and this is sure to be one of the topics raised.
Our original position on this property is available here.
