Native American groups weigh in on Pasco’s Anclote River Park plans

Pasco County’s plan to expand and update Anclote River Park has attracted the attention of organizations that work to protect the sacred sites, historical settings and burial grounds of indigenous Florida residents.

A letter to the county earlier this month from the American Indian Movement of Florida and the Florida Indigenous Alliance put county officials on notice that they were watching the county’ actions. They said they will be monitoring how future park developments will affect cultural sites that have already been verified by archaeologists.

The organizations “are critically concerned with Pasco County Parks/Recreation & Natural Resources Department’s plans to place a restaurant/snack bar, volleyball courts and a parking lot in areas with known Indigenous cemeteries and cultural sites at Anclote River Park,” wrote Robert Rosa, board chairperson of the American Indian Movement.

The letter is just one of dozens that Pasco has received in recent months since the County Commission approved a contract with Keith Overton, who spent decades running the Tradewinds Island Resorts in Pinellas County. He has proposed building a themed restaurant on the riverfront as well as offering water craft rentals and an outdoor event area.

Overton is also a partner in a project planned on a site north of the park, which was approved several years ago, that would include a resort with recreational vehicle spaces and cottages.

Opponents of the plan have gathered 2,100 signatures on a petition. They object to the project on several grounds.

“I am writing to you imploring that you reconsider allowing a restaurant at The Anclote River park, besides this location being very near native burial mounds it is one of the few access points our kiddos have to swim nearby,” wrote Pasco County resident Tara Bander. “We have been enjoying this park for the playground, water access and nature for over 20 years and hope to continue to do so without having to spend money.

“The plans that I saw will take away all of our favorite parts of this park.” Bander said.

When asked this week if plans for Overton’s development were still moving forward, county Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Director Keith Wiley said, “The restaurant is actively seeking the necessary land use/zoning changes required. The Planning Department is reviewing the proposed uses against the County’s Comprehensive Plan as required.”

As for the new parking, boat ramp and access renovations that Wiley has said are critical for the park site since it is the county’s largest waterfront park with the best boating access, he said, “The site plan for the park redesign is effectively on hold while the cultural resource questions are answered.”

In his letter, Rosa told the county: “The development, as originally planned, of Anclote Park would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of Pasco County ordinances. To wit Pasco Ordinance 809.7 requires ‘avoidance, minimization and mitigation, in that order of preference, of adverse impacts on significant archaeological resources.’”

A consultant hired by the county, Stantec, also noted in its report that in addition to five significant features included in the state’s “master list” of historical places on the park land, there is also “the likelihood of Indigenous cemeteries within the footprint of the planned development,” Rosa wrote.

Rosa’s letter also quotes from several other regulations, including the Antiquities Act of 1906, which prohibits excavations or destruction of antiquities;” the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, which “prohibits preventing Indigenous peoples from access to sacred and ceremonial sites;” and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act which, “calls for the protection of Indigenous cemeteries.”

He wrote that, based on conversations with county officials, he was hopeful Pasco would do the right thing.

“To respect the living,” he said, “one must logically respect those who have come before, the ancestors.”

Pasco officials said they continued to look at options. According to Wiley, “a draft phase 3 data recovery plan has been proposed by our consultant, as recommended by the State. The scope of work is still being reviewed.”

“A phase III data recovery is done when an archeological site eligible for the National Register cannot be preserved from a project’s impact,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The indigenous organizations are also keeping their options open.

The groups said they hope “the right to rest in peace be given to those ancestors interred at Anclote River Park,” Rosa wrote, adding that the organizations prefer “the dialogue of cooperation to the rhetoric of confrontation but is prepared for both.”