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ELAPP Has 20-Year History

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2008

1979: State starts its Conservation and Recreational Lands program, known as CARL, prompting then-Hillsborough County Commissioner Jan Platt to work toward a local land-preservation program.

1987: The Hillsborough County Commission conducts a straw vote, then adopts an ordinance to implement a quarter-mill property assessment that will bring in $21 million over four years to purchase lands for conservation. The program is called the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program, or ELAPP.

1988: The first sites are approved for ELAPP.

1989: County hires ELAPP acquisition manager Kurt Gremley.

1989: The South Hillsborough Wildlife Corridor is nominated for purchase by the Sierra Club. In the next 18 years, ELAPP acquires tracts and assembles large portions within the 43,000-acre corridor.

1990: ELAPP and the Southwest Florida Water Management District team up to purchase the Oakridge site on Morris Bridge Road. It is the first of numerous joint acquisitions with the district.

1990: Voters approve a ballot measure to extend the quarter-mill ELAPP allocation for 20 years and authorize up to $100 million in bonds. Forty percent of that money is matched with contributions from various agencies.

1991: With a declining real estate market, ELAPP is able to purchase numerous parcels for conservation.

1991 to present: ELAPP draws on money from the referendum and matching funds to purchase more than 44,700 acres.

2008: Most of the ELAPP bond money is exhausted, and the county goes back to the voters to extend the program with another $200 million in bonds, to be issued as needed.

Source: Kurt Gremley, ELAPP acquisition manager

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