PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — With its beach, trees, and wildlife, Anclote River Park means a lot to Linda Blake.
“I have been coming to this park for more than 40 years. And people have enjoyed this park for much longer than even that,” said Blake.
Blake is a Sierra Club member.
She is among those against turning this park on the Pinellas/Pasco line into a complex with a restaurant and entertainment space.
“People who love this park are kind of horrified with all the land being developed in Pasco County. Private land over which we have very little control, we don’t understand why our county commission would seek to commercially develop a park that’s already in existence,” said Blake.
One big reason some don’t want anything else built here is this Indian Burial Mound.
Robert Rosa is chairman of the American Indian Movement in Florida.
He visited Anclote River Park and said some of the existing structures here were built over other burial grounds.
“When I heard they are going to do further damage, it just disgusts me,” said Rosa.
His group is working to preserve the Native American history here and at other places around the state.
“Just the mound itself is the tombstone. Just because it’s not a concrete or marble tombstone doesn’t mean it’s not a marked burial,” said Rosa.
I checked with the Pasco County Government to see where the project stands.
They said there is an active lease with a developer.
However, the county said they plan to schedule a community meeting to discuss and educate the public on the park’s redesign.
They also said there is a slight delay tied to the rezoning application of the restaurant.
But those against any development here said they will keep fighting to keep it from happening.
“There is just no excuse to develop this land,” said Blake.
