According to the county, the money will be used for the non-profit organization’s plans to “enhance, promote, and preserve the historic character of the Vilano Beach Town Center and surrounding areas.”
St. Johns County has reinstated and refunded its Land Acquisition and Management Program after more than a decade on the backburner due to budgetary constraints.
The program was established in 1999 to acquire and preserve environmentally sensitive land for public access and passive recreational purposes. Some of the greenspaces created through LAMP include the Alpine Groves River Park, Vilano Beach Oceanfront Park and the Southeast Intracoastal Waterway Park.
County officials, however, pulled the plug on the program in 2008 at the beginning of the economic recession.
At their regular meeting Tuesday, county commissioners voted 3-2 to reactivate the program at an annual appropriation of $500,000.