By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

The Osceola County Commission on May 10 voted to move forward on the contract to purchase a 1.96-acre site known as the Marsh Road Marina as a county park to provide access to Shingle Creek.

The asking price is $360,000, which is below the appraised value obtained recently by the owner, Edwin D. Sievers, according to county staff. As part of the process, the county must now pay for its own appraisal for the site and determine whether there are any other factors that would affect the purchase. The issue was set to return to the commission in 75 days.

The marina, which is at the end of Marsh Road west of Pleasant Hill Road, previously was operated as a commercial business but use of the site, which was grandfathered-in, has lapsed so it no longer can be used for that purpose since it is in an area zoned residential. However, the county, if it bought the site, would bring in a private concession to offer canoe and kayak rentals, according to Don Fisher, interim county manager.

County staff also said the purchase was recommended as part of the Shingle Creek master plan and would help provide access to a state-approved paddling trail that would allow canoeists and kayakers to get to Makinson Island from the marina. Staff also said the South Florida Water Management District would provide $150,000 for the purchase.

“It is so close to the urban core, it would help us in attracting eco-tourism and it would be a great place for our local citizens to use,” Commissioner Michael Harford, whose district includes the marina, said. “In the scheme of things, I think this is reasonable.”

The commissioner said a canoe trip from the marina to Lake Tohopekaliga would take about an hour. He also said the marina could eventually serve as an exit point for canoeists launching from Shingle Creek Regional Park along U.S. Highway 192, though that trip is not possible now because a portion of the creek north of the marina is impassable.

Harford also said that only after the drop in real estate prices brought on by the recession did the asking price for the marina, which is across Marsh Road from the north side of Good Samaritan Village, come “within a price range” for purchase that the county could afford. The asking price for the property two or three years ago was in the $700,000 range, he said.

The commissioner also said Osceola County has to establish its own identity as far as tourism and offer visitors something to do when they get tired of the noise and crowds at the theme park. He also said the county has to have alternative tourism destinations in place when the economy does improve.

Commissioner John Quiñones voted against proceeding with the contract while Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. abstained. Quiñones wanted the county to purchase the site only if the price for the property was 10 percent below the appraisal obtained by the county.

According to county property appraiser records, the total taxable “working appraised value’ of the property, which has an address of 3465 Marsh Road, Kissimmee, as of May 19 was $161,900, which includes $64,000 for land, $55,700 for buildings and $41,800 for other improvements. Buildings include a single-family home and a manufactured mobile home. There also are small trailers on the property.

If the county purchased the property as is, then some features might have to be removed, Harford said on Wednesday, adding that if a use could be found for the single-family home or the mobile home on the site, for example, then they would not be razed.

“We haven’t made a decision yet on what would be left on the property,” Harford said.

The commissioner also said no decision had been made on whether the county would have to improve Marsh Road, which is not paved.

The last official year the marina functioned as a commercial operation, according to state corporation records, was in 2001. It operated at that time as Harbor Oaks Marina.

Rick Abbey, 51, an adjacent property owner, said he was worried about the additional traffic a county facility might bring, adding that shuttles of some sort might come and go as people and canoes are taken back to the Shingle Creek Regional Park.

The owner of the property could not be reached for comment.

According to the South Florida Water Management District website, Shingle Creek is the major water source for Lake Tohopekaliga, which is part of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and forms the headwater of the Everglades.

“Adjacent to major tourist attractions and growth areas, it is the last remaining natural area of its size in southwest Orange and northwest Osceola counties,” the website stated.

The creek, according to the district, is featured on the Everglades Trail and a variety of wildlife, such as white-tailed deer, alligators, turkey and birds, thrive in the creek corridor.