{"id":161108,"date":"2026-02-19T12:25:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/161108\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T12:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:25:06","slug":"usf-community-concerned-fletcher-district-could-impact-forest-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/161108\/","title":{"rendered":"USF community concerned Fletcher District could impact Forest Preserve\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>Some students and community members are worried the Fletcher District\u2019s development could encroach on the neighboring USF Forest Preserve. ORACLE PHOTO\/THOMAS MARRS<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s former golf course, characterized by an 18-hole public course and, more recently, \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d signs, is set to undergo a 27-acre facelift this semester.<\/p>\n

The university shuttered<\/a> The Claw due to financial losses in September 2023, and is now set to redevelop the land into a mixed-use neighborhood<\/a> that will include housing, retail, restaurants, an academic building and a hotel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Board of Governors approved<\/a> the first phase of the Fletcher District in November, with groundbreaking expected this spring.<\/p>\n

But the estimated $268 million development plan has some USF students and alumni concerned about the potential negative impacts it could have on the USF Forest Preserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 500-acre USF Forest Preserve<\/a> borders The Claw to the east and is primarily a wetland and sandhill habitat that houses various endangered or protected plants and animals, according to the preserve\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: USF reveals vision for housing, retail on former golf course site<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Calista Snyder, a USF alumna and local biologist, said she is concerned the development for the Fletcher District could affect native wildlife.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Claw was never going to be a perfect, untouched piece of nature,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cBut it serves a very important purpose as being the midpoint from urban life to the Forest Preserve.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In April 2021, USF issued a Request for Information<\/a> to explore developing the Forest Preserve, which prompted swift backlash<\/a> from USF faculty and environmental groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s Faculty Senate passed a resolution<\/a> just one month later, supporting the preserve remaining a conservation site.<\/p>\n

By August 2021, USF President Emerita Rhea Law created<\/a> the North Fletcher Property Advisory Committee<\/a> \u2014 a 13-member group composed of USF faculty and staff \u2014 to provide recommendations for the preserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The committee<\/a> said the land \u201cwasn\u2019t suitable\u201d for development, and in February 2022, USF announced it would no longer<\/a> pursue development of the land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Snyder, who graduated from USF in 2021 and protested the initial development of the Forest Preserve, said The Claw serves as an \u201cideal\u201d barrier between the city and the preserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy developing [The Claw], you are basically taking away that buffer zone and shrinking the Forest Preserve,\u201d Snyder said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A buffer zone is a protected layer around environmentally sensitive areas meant to lessen the impacts of development, according to The Nature Conservancy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s Fletcher District approved in Board of Governors meeting<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, USF said the Fletcher District will not affect the neighboring preserve and that it plans to use \u201cenvironmentally responsible\u201d development practices, according to USF\u2019s Tampa Campus Master Plan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plan<\/a> will establish buffer zones along the preserve to serve as wildlife corridors, limit construction near \u201csensitive areas\u201d and restore native vegetation for stormwater management and biodiversity.<\/p>\n

USF did not specify how long the buffer zones will be, or what it defines as \u201csensitive areas,\u201d but Hillsborough County\u2019s Land Development Code<\/a> requires development to be set back 50 feet from designated wetlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The USF Forest Preserve is a 500-acre wetland located along Fletcher Avenue to the east of The Claw. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE\/LEILA SUJANANI<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s Environmental and Conservation Outreach, Research and Education System,<\/a> which \u201csecures, utilizes and promotes\u201d the Forest Preserve, did not respond to The Oracle\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leila Sujanani is a junior biology and geology double major and a former ECORE program assistant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sujanani said the environmental measures the university plans to implement are important for the preserve\u2019s health, as they help reduce the negative impacts of nearby developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout those sorts of safeguards, the preserve\u2019s ecological function is likely to be compromised,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s Climate Teach-In aims to educate community on environmental initiatives<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sujanani is also a member of the USF Burn Team<\/a>, which works with local municipalities, local emergency services and the Florida Forest Service to conduct prescribed burns on the Forest Preserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prescribed burns are controlled fires that manage vegetation, control invasive species and can support an ecosystem\u2019s biodiversity, according to USF\u2019s ECORE System<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sujanani said prescribed burns take extensive planning \u2014 including monitoring weather conditions, obtaining permits and notifying nearby residences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said construction closer to the burn sites causes setbacks because of the need to account for additional people in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sujanani said this is something USF should take into account as it adds<\/a> 696 student beds and 150 multi-family apartments in the Fletcher District.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf development moves closer, the burns become harder to implement, even though the ecological need for the fire doesn\u2019t go away,\u201d Sujanani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sujanani said the influx of residents living next to the Forest Preserve would require educating more students and community members on the benefits of prescribed burns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of time has been spent in being transparent in that communication and making sure the public is educated on why burns happen and why it\u2019s good,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sujanani said she hopes USF prioritizes the preserve\u2019s long-term management, despite the Fletcher District\u2019s development slated to begin this semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think development is necessarily a bad thing, but you really have to think about the ecosystems that will be impacted by this sort of thing,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some students and community members are worried the Fletcher District\u2019s development could encroach on the neighboring USF Forest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-161108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}