Jack Nicklaus’ Bear’s Club cites public ‘uproar,’ withdraws land swap request
JUPITER — Citing a public “uproar,” Jack Nicklaus’ Bear’s Club is withdrawing its controversial request to swap habitat land protected by a hands-off conservation easement in exchange for a $1 million contribution to a fund that maintains the county’s natural areas.
“We want to withdraw and reassess and decide what we do next and we don’t know what that’s going to be,” said Bear’s Club Attorney Alan Ciklin. “But because of the uproar, we just want things to calm down.”
Bear’s Club, an invitation-only community of single-family homes with a golf course and clubhouse, sought to remove the easement on the land — which it already owns — to expand the number of houses in the development.
The easement was placed on the property in 1993 in a settlement unrelated to Nicklaus or Bear’s Club. The agreement was between Palm Beach County and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which owned the land at the time.
The settlement came after the foundation violated a county rule by clearing the land without
permission. The agreement said the property would be retained and maintained “forever.”
Before Ciklin announced the withdrawal Wednesday afternoon, County Commissioner Hal Valeche, who represents the district that is home to the Jupiter club, told The Palm Beach Post he planned to meet with representatives of the club today to discuss the proposal’s standing.
Valeche said in mid-September that he supported the project. But, on Wednesday, he said he was uncertain about the project and acknowledged the public’s “substantial” reaction.
Valeche later told The Post he already informed the club’s development team he didn’t think they had the support they needed.
“I advised them that I didn’t think we had the support needed to go forward with this and that a lot more work needed to be done before this particular plan could ever see the light of day. I’m pleased they took my suggestion,” he said.
The Bear’s Club, north of Donald Ross Road, wanted to develop about 15 acres it owns but is restricted by the 1993 conservation easement. The club land is a habitat for species such as the threatened gopher tortoise.
In exchange, Bear’s Club offered a one-time payment of $1 million to the Natural Areas Fund, which pays for maintaining the county’s natural areas. It also offered about 20 acres of other property at Bear’s Club — totaling 44 parcels, each averaging less than half an acre — to be protected.
Palm Beach County commissioners were initially supposed to vote on the proposal Sept. 18, but postponed a decision after Ciklin asked for more time.
Ciklin said former board members of The Bear’s Club Property Owners’ Association knew of the plan, but the current ones did not — until recently. A letter to the county from the association’s attorney, John Jorgensen, said the association learned about the proposal by reading it in The Palm Beach Post.
About 10 days later, Jorgensen sent a letter to the commission saying the Property Owners’ Association board supported the proposal.
The commission was expected to vote on the proposal Oct. 16.
Commissioners received more than 100 emails on the topic, most if not all from residents who were against Bear’s Club plan. Residents shared an online petition on Change.org called “NO to Jack Nicklaus Land Swap.” Sierra Club’s Loxahatchee Group and Audubon Everglades organization came out against it, too.
Officials in neighboring Palm Beach Gardens discussed a measure opposing the land swap but ultimately decided to individually share their concerns with county commissioners. That was after Gardens Councilman Mark Marciano wrote to the commission urging them not to approve the deal.
Despite county staff recommending the commission deny the request, Valeche originally said he’d support it because former county commissioner Karen Marcus — his predecessor — backed it. Bear’s Club employed Marcus, who for decades has been active in environmental issues, as a lobbyist from May 2017 until this past April, according to the county’s lobbyist registry.
Marcus did not respond to requests for comment.
Another factor was that the land with the easement is not open to the public, Valeche said.
County staff said they were against the plan for several reasons, according to documents. One reason, they said, is the new land being offered would be fragmented and the overall ecological value of the complete habitat would be degraded. They also expressed concern about the message that would be sent by exchanging a conservation easement for money and that the agreement was for the land to be preserved “forever.”
The Bear’s Club, which is home to about 80 homes, would have built up to eight single-family houses on the 15 acres, Ciklin said.
Ciklin said he still hasn’t heard a good reason why the proposal isn’t a good deal. He defended Nicklaus, saying he has environmental credentials and is on the board of directors of the Everglades Foundation.
He also defended the proposal saying the 20 acres are next to 60 acres of preserve area.
“So it really turns out to be 80 acres of preserve,” Ciklin said. “I’m not suggesting that they’re giving something that’s already been given. The point is that when the 20 acres is adjacent to the 60 it becomes a larger, more meaningful total preserve area.”
But Valeche couldn’t support the swap anymore.
“I’m not sure this particular plan, the public would ever get behind,” Valeche said Wednesday. “So I think if they want to go forward they’re going to have to work on something quite a bit different.”