Gemini Springs Addition Factsheet

The City of DeBary is seeking 102 acres of conservation lands from the Gemini Springs
Addition for a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) adjacent to the local Sun Rail station. This
development project would include 2,400 residential units, 258,000 square feet of nonresidential space, and a stormwater retention facility.

In 1999, the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) acquired the Gemini
Springs Addition with mitigation funds from the Florida Department of Transportation for the
widening of I-4 and the completion of SR 417.

The Gemini Springs Addition consists of approximately 948 acres and is located in DeBary on
the west shore of Lake Monroe, north of the St. Johns River and west of Interstate 4.

Gemini Springs Addition:
 Protects the west shore of Lake Monroe from direct stormwater runoff from adjacent
roadways,
 Preserves critical wetlands and a portion of the Gemini Springs springshed,
 Provides important habitat for wildlife, and
 Creates a contiguous corridor between Gemini Springs Park and Lake Monroe Park.

Gemini Springs Addition is also a valuable recreational asset and tourist attraction for the
county and the region. The popular Spring to Spring Trail runs through the property,
connecting Gemini Springs Park and Lake Monroe Park.

In 2012, the SJRWMD’s District Lands Assessment Implementation Plan recommended
donating the land to the county while retaining a conservation easement to ensure continued
conservation. This plan does not recommend selling, exchanging for other parcels, or
allowing alternative uses on this property. In other words, these lands were determined to
have significant conservation value when they were purchased by the state and again when
they were reassessed in 2012.

John Miklos, the Chairman of the SJRWMD Governing Board, and his company, Bio-Tec
Consulting Inc., are working for the City of DeBary to help get the required permits and
approval from the SJRWMD and other regulatory agencies for the land transfer and proposed
development project.

The DeBary city manager has consistently given the false impression that the cleanup and
protection of DeBary Bayou is one of the priorities and benefits of the TOD project. However,
the vast majority of stormwater that would be diverted to the new stormwater facility would
be from future development, not from the existing runoff that is polluting the Bayou. In
addition, city leaders have focused on using fees generated from future TOD development
projects to remove nuisance and exotic plant species instead of addressing the sources of the
pollution that have degraded Gemini Springs, the Bayou, and surrounding waterways.

In 2012, the Army Corps of Engineers conducted the DeBary Bayou Watershed
Assessment Study, ranking numerous recommendations as higher priorities than the
removal of exotic species. According to the study, the City must first conduct “a detailed study
to quantify the quantity and quality of gravity stormwater runoff in DeBary Bayou watershed”,
prioritize projects and funding for various pollution sources, and develop a comprehensive
stormwater and water quality monitoring program. These important steps have so far been
ignored by DeBary city leaders.

The bottom line is that the proposed TOD would not fix existing pollution problems, will not
restore the DeBary Bayou, and has no place on public conservation lands.

Ceding conservation lands to private developers violates the intent of our state constitution
and the purpose for which they were purchased. This would establish a dangerous precedent
that potentially puts all of our conservation lands at risk and undermines the requirements and
purpose of mitigation.
Get Involved
Contact the DeBary City Council members and tell them to withdraw plans for a private
development project on the Gemini Springs Addition and honor the intent for which these public
conservation lands were originally purchased.
Dan Parrott, City Manager
DeBary City Council:
Mayor Clint Johnson
Chris Carson
Rick Dwyer
Mike Brady
Lita Handy-Peters
[email protected]
(386) 668-2040
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Contact the SJRWMD Governing Board members and tell them to ensure that the Gemini
Springs Addition property remains in conservation in perpetuity.
SJRWMD Governing Board:
John Miklos, Chairman
Fred Roberts, Vice Chairman
Chuck Drake, Secretary
Carla Yetter, Treasurer
Doug Bournique
Douglas Burnett
Maryam Ghyabi
Ron Howse
John P. Browning Jr.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
For more information:
Lisa Rinaman, the St. Johns Riverkeeper
www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org
[email protected]
Search “Save Gemini’s Land” at www.facebook.com