Tenacity rules in Pirates Cove sale

It’s Wednesday, so let’s talk about Pirates Cove.

I’m told the sale may close today, and Citrus County will be the proud owner of 3 acres of pristine property on the St. Martin’s Aquatic Preserve.
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The sale price was just under $1.2 million, with $900,000 coming from the county and $300,000 raised from citizens and businesses.

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Buying Pirates Cove saves it from potential development, of course, but I also see a lesson in political tenacity.

Commissioner Jeff Kinnard deserves all the credit for seeing this through. He could have given up when obstacles and naysayers told him this was an impossible dream, an unrealistic vision, a financial ask the county couldn’t afford, and, basically, a waste of everyone’s time.

Tenacity is one of my five defining words for 2026 (the others are unafraid, courage, kindness, and community). The idea of sticking to an idea, no matter the distractions. 

Readers know I’ve been a Pirates Cove supporter from the start. Kinnard and the County Commission basically did for Pirates Cove what Ozello citizens have wanted for years.

As today's photo shows, the property sits on the western tip of Ozello, surrounded by a county boat ramp and community park. Ten miles of twists-and-turns roadway from U.S. 19.

How we got here:

Pirates Cove was a restaurant/motel in Ozello destroyed in the 1993 “no-name” storm. The property was later sold to a man who wanted to develop time-share condos.

This was in 2014. The community was aghast at the thought of Pirates Cove becoming a time-share. Citizens crammed the County Commission chambers, and the board said no to the plan.

A similar plan followed but never made it for a board vote.

The owner died, and his heirs reached out to the county in 2019 for a possible sale. Kinnard, whose district includes Ozello, thought it was worthy of discussion.

And…that’s what happened for six years. Conversation, offers back and forth. Some County Commission buy-in, but Kinnard was the only one with any enthusiasm for the idea.

Meanwhile, the Fishcreek Glampground vote in 2023 soured Kinnard’s relationship with Ozello residents who believed he turned his back on them to favor a development.

Then came Hurricane Helene in 2024. The Ozello tidal surge was worse than “no-name.” Ozello, which can flood at high tide during summer storms, was underwater. Citizens thought the Pirates Cove idea was nuts. Why would we buy property that floods?

Personally, I never understood that argument. The county’s not going to put an amusement park there. We’re talking passive…picnic tables, nature trails, that kind of thing.

Plus, isn’t the idea to save the property from development? While condos were no longer viable, the owners could have placed a half-dozen houses and a restaurant on the site without a zoning change.
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When public sentiment crept onto the County Commission, and Kinnard knew he faced losing the deal, he reached out to the private sector. For months, Kinnard kept telling me he had people lined up ready to give once the county had a land contract for sale.

Let’s be honest. We were a little dubious about that. Confidence is one thing, but to specifically tie the sale to raising private funds, which the contract required, that’s really going out on a limb.

Well, the donations came through. Everything he said would happen, happened.

This is a huge win for Citrus County. I realize we’re all cynical as heck these days, questioning every breath from the County Commission, but let’s not be so rigid as to ignore the good stuff.

One of my early blogs in 2021 concerned the board's initial rejection of Kinnard's Pirates Cove idea. The blog's last line:

"Ozelloians and Jeff Kinnard. We haven’t heard the last of them."

Pirates Cove will never be developed. Nature and community thrive there instead. Makes me smile.

Have an awesome Wednesday, friends.

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