Local Black leaders vehemently oppose building pickleball courts at Von D. Mizell Eula Johnson State Park in Dania Beach which is the former site of the county’s colored beach. PHOTO COURTESY OF FLORIDASTATEPARKS.ORG

Miami – Despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delaying his controversial 2024-25 Great Outdoors Initiative to build golf courses, pickleball courts and hotels on nine state parks, the opposition is not going away.

The plan ignited protests across Florida to preserve state parks including bipartisan opposition suggesting the parks are sanctuaries for wildlife and vital ecosystems.

Local Black leaders vehemently oppose building pickleball courts at Von D. Mizell Eula Johnson State Park in Dania Beach which is the former site of the county’s colored beach.

The park was named after the two civil rights activists who spearheaded the initiative to desegregate Broward County beaches.

Though DeSantis put the proposal on hold for now and the Department of Environmental Protection Agency canceled public hearings to garner feedback, State Sen. Shervin Jones (D-Miami Gardens) and Coral Springs Commissioner Nancy Metayer Bowen are urging people to continue to protest to shield state parks.

Jones started a petition drive to stymie the initiative, saying the plan is troubling for Von D. Mizell Eula Johnson State Park, Oleta State Park in North Miami Beach and other state parks targeted for development.

Jones said the Great Outdoors Initiative plan was delayed because of the uproar and public hearings might be rescheduled for another time.

“Our parks are sanctuaries for wildlife, vital ecosystems, and places where families can connect with nature, not locations for commercial development,” Jones said in a statement. “The DEP may have delayed their plans, but they have not abandoned them. That’s why I’m urging you to join me in standing against this proposal.”

Bowen, the Caribbean vote director for Florida for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president, said the plan is not appropriate for state parks.

“The natural beauty and ecological integrity of Florida’s state parks are among our state’s most precious resources,” she said in a statement. “While recreation is important, commercializing these public lands risks undermining the very ecosystems we seek to protect. Our parks should remain places where families can enjoy Florida’s natural environment without the intrusion of unnecessary development.”

State Sen. Gayle Harrell, a Republican from Stuart, is pushing to stymie any development plans on state parks.

Harrell said she plans to file a bill at the upcoming legislative session to protect state parks after a proposal to build three golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park became public.

“My bill will protect Jonathan Dickinson and all our natural treasures from misguided ideas like this going forward,” she said in a press release.

Preserving Von D, Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, formally known as John U. Lloyd Park, is considered vital because it’s part of Black history.

It’s the first state park in Florida named for African Americans. Dr. Mizell was one of Fort Lauderdale’s early black doctors and Johnson was the county’s first NAACP president.

Both faced lawsuits and death threats during their long struggle for racial equality.

“They’re like the Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks of South Florida,” said former state Sen. Christopher Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, who cosponsored legislation for the name change with state Rep. Evan Jenne, DHollywood.

The 310-acre park, at 6503 N. Ocean Dr., in Dania Beach, just south of Port Everglades, also has a boat ramp and three pavilions to honor other local civil rights trailblazers.

Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park’s history as “Colored Beach” dates back to 1954, when county officials designated the segregated sands following years of petitions by Black South Floridians seeking a public bathing beach.

However, getting to the remote beach was difficult.

There were no roads and the area was accessible only by ferry.

Black activists pressured the county to build a road but when it refused, Mizell and Johnson staged wade-ins at the area’s white-only beaches.

The state purchased 117 acres of “Colored Beach” in 1973, initially naming the area after longtime Broward County attorney John U. Lloyd, who was instrumental in assembling the land and transferring it to the state parks system.

Thirty years later, the Mizell Family Legacy Trust began lobbying for the park’s name change.

The proposal for pickleball courts at the park outraged the Black community.

"Let’s have respect for the history that’s there, and not try to gentrify the beaches," said Emmanuel George, a community archivist and historian who runs the Instagram account Black Broward.

He says that the proposal is a step in the wrong direction, and that the park shouldn’t focus on commercial development, but instead cultural development.

“With more emphasis on this being a historically Black beach, it could then bring more people to appreciate the beach,” said George. “And more cultural based events could be more reminiscent of back in the day when Black folks, this was our beach” Florida residents expressed strong opposition to construct a 350-room lodging at Anastasia State Park in St. Johns County and Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa Beach. DeSantis’ plan for the nine state parks was also shot down by other GOP lawmakers.

Republican U.S. Rep. Brain Mast of Palm City rejected the plan of a public golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Martin County.

“Over my dead body," Mast said on X.

In a letter to DeSantis, and the De- partment of Environmental Protection Agency, Florida U.S. Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio also condemned the plan and blasted DeSantis for expediting an initiative with little public input.

Co-signers of the letter included Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs, Palm Beach County Vice Mayor Maria Marino and County Commissioner Michael Barnett.

During a news conference last week, DeSantis told reporters that he will go back to the drawing board with the Great Outdoors Initiative and blamed left-wing groups for causing the clamor.

He said the group leaked the information as pure conjecture presented to the public.

“We’re not getting into the golf course business in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in his first public comments after the statewide protest. “As governor, I am totally fine to just do nothing and do no improvements, if that’s what the general public wants.”