22-05-2025
Discussion over possible Sand Hill Scout Reservation sale held despite former owner's dying wish
The Brief
Controversy surrounding a portion of the Boy Scouts' Sand Hill Reservation was addressed Wednesday evening.
The Boy Scouts Greater Tampa Bay Area Council wants to sell a portion of the 1,400-acre reservation in Brooksville to the Withlacoochee River Electric Co-op.
The land battle has been going on since September 2024, when residents learned the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council was in talks to negotiate the sale.
BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - Controversy surrounding a portion of the Boy Scouts' Sand Hill Reservation was addressed Wednesday evening.
The backstory
The Boy Scouts Greater Tampa Bay Area Council wants to sell a portion of the 1,400-acre reservation in Brooksville to the Withlacoochee River Electric Co-op. But, concerned citizens said it was the former property owner's dying wish to keep the property for the Boy Scouts.
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The land battle has been going on since September 2024, when residents learned the Greater Tampa Bay Area Council was in talks to negotiate the sale of 51 acres to the northwest of the property to the WREC.
"They have a substation that's adjacent to our camp," Scout Executive Mike Butler said. "They approached us about perhaps carving out a portion of the camp for their purposes, for a new western district service center area and perhaps expansion of the substation."
Dig deeper
Butler said all proceeds from the sale would go towards reservation improvements for its four camps.
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"Most of them are at least 50 years old, two of them are almost 100 years old," he said. "Many of them have not had a lot of improvements or upgrades over the years."
That's in addition to more inclusive sleep and restroom areas, sports facility enhancements, and recreational structural improvements.
The other side
Warren Hunt said a road in the reservation was named after his grandfather who helped acquire the land from the former property owner, Larry Die Polder. Hunt said, according to Die Polder's will, "Mr. Die Polder, when he passed away, donated it to the scouts, and it was supposed to stay a scout's camp forever. If it doesn't stay a scout's camp, it's supposed to go back to the county for a park."
The Greater Tampa Bay Area Council found a discrepancy between Die Polder's will and the land deed and said the Scouts actually have full rights to the land with no restrictions.
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In a Wednesday evening Public Inquiry Workshop with Hernando County reps and The Greater Tampa Bay Area Council, the proposal details were shared with the community.
Hunt said this could be a slippery slope into more commercial land sales.
"I wish the commissioners would think long and hard about what they're planning on doing here," he explained. "It's a Pandora's Box. Once they open it up, they're going to continue to wiggle off and sell portions of it."
Barber would not comment on future commercial land sales.
"Our primary focus right now is just working with Withlacoochee River Electric and consummating that arrangement partnership," he said. "We have every intention to remain here as a scout camp for generations to come."
What's next
The topic will be further discussed in a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in the coming weeks.
The Source
The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis.
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