Members of the public can weigh in on a ten-year plan for the Lake Apopka North Shore at a meeting the St. Johns River Water Management District is holding Thursday night, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the District’s office in Apopka, on S. Binion Road.
The North Shore is an area of roughly 20,000 acres of land just off Lake Apopka, Florida’s fourth-largest lake, spreading across Orange and Lake Counties. The ten-year land management plan, currently in draft form, outlines different strategies for protecting natural resources and providing public recreation opportunities there.
Right now there are six trailheads, four observation towers, and two boat ramps on the Lake Apopka North Shore. The District wants to develop a non-motorized boat launch to provide public access to the North Shore’s West Marsh area, where the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is evaluating potential waterfowl hunting and/or fishing opportunities, according to the draft plan.
There is only one road open to vehicles on the North Shore: the 11-mile, one-way Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, usually open until 5 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays. It currently remains closed for road repairs and until water levels recede, according to the District’s website.
Most of the North Shore is currently below lake elevation and vulnerable to flooding, due to past agricultural operations that gradually sank the land at the rate of about a foot every decade, according to the draft plan. Those former muck farms were later restored into the marsh systems now making up the North Shore, per the District.
Once finalized, the ten-year Lake Apopka North Shore land management plan is slated to take effect in January of 2025, according to the current draft.
Anyone unable to attend tonight’s meeting may also submit written comments to the District, by sending an email to bbachelder@sjrwmd.com or by mail to P.O. Box 1429, Palatka, Fla. 32178.
