Linking Landscapes – How Avenir’s Conservation Area is Filling the Nature Gap

Signature City Magazine, Fall 2024

It’s a typical late summer morning when I meet Ed Weinberg at a small dirt parking lot in the Avenir community. The sky is clear, and the sun is sitting high and bright. Following a week and a half of daily downpours, we are fortunate to embark on our tour while there is a break in the rain. As far as the eye can see, the terrain is soaked, and as I unload my camera equipment Weinberg quips, “This area is doing exactly what it was designed to do!” He’s referring to the vast conservation area to the north of the Avenir development that is roughly equivalent to the size of 1,800 football fields. At around 2,400 acres, the preserve contains various wetlands including freshwater marsh, mesic flatwoods, strand swamp, wet prairie, and dry prairie, which have been beautifully commingled. The stretch of land that encompasses the conservation area completes an important connection between the Loxahatchee Slough to the east and north, and the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area (WEA) and the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area to the west. Avenir creates an important link in the landscapes, creating a sort of land bridge for wildlife to traverse.

“One of the fundamental reasons that the conservation area in Avenir is so critical is it was the last piece of privately held land between separated conservation lands that go from Lake Okeechobee all the way to the Loxahatchee River,” Weinberg explains. When it comes to knowledge of the Avenir Conservation Area, few know its history and topography as intimately as Ed Weinberg. He is the natural resource management specialist whose firm EW Consultants, Inc. has been put in charge of this daunting restoration project. Not only is he one set of boots on the ground today, but he has been involved with the property for decades and personally knew the land’s previous owner Charles Vavrus. Most commuters see new traffic signals, grand entryways and new houses sprouting up as they traverse Northlake Boulevard. But few venture into the development to explore the wetlands and trails that have been sculpted there today. With the new Coconut Boulevard entrance opening, it’s a straight shot past the gated communities to the conservation area. Those who have lived in Palm Beach County for decades may remember the location as cattle land. Newcomers to the city pass that same area and see the name “Avenir”. This is why there may be competing philosophies about what is happening to the former site of the Vavrus Ranch. The land has a long history, but few think about what it was before the ranch came along. The wheels currently in motion are returning this area to the historic condition that existed before it was drained for farming and ranching- wetlands.

The complete Avenir landholding consists of 4,752 acres, however only about half of that has been developed with homes, a town center and public safety facilities. Planners chose to restore the northern portion to wetlands to provide a connection between all the conservation areas to the west and east. “It just made sense to connect it”, shares Weinberg. “It was the best ecological decision to make to benefit both the property itself, as well as all the surrounding conservation areas.” According to Weinberg, restoring the land consists of two big tasks. The first is to reverse all of the drainage that was done for agriculture. This undertaking involved filling in around 70,000 linear feet of canals and ditches to slow down runoff and allow the rain to collect in natural areas where they can sit for a while.

“Then it benefits the wildlife”, he says. “It cleans up the water. All kinds of functions occur in wetlands and surrounding areas. Reversing the drainage has enabled us to increase the residence time of the water on-site.”

The other major task in restoring the land was ridding the area of invasive, non-native species of vegetation. It turns out, not all trees are good trees. Weinberg explains that if the name of the plant starts with the name of another country, it’s probably not native to Florida. Brazilian Pepper or Australian Pine, for example. His team is deep into the process of eradicating this harmful vegetation by grinding them up in place and using the stored energy of those plants as mulch to nourish the soil. “The reason they’re a problem is that the wildlife that’s native to Florida is not adaptive to feeding on them, to having cover or nesting in them. To the untrained eye, it looks like a plant or a big group of plants, but it’s really just a desert as far as the wildlife is concerned”, he explains. “The most important thing to support a broad variety of wildlife is having a diversity of vegetation from ground cover to shrubs to canopy.” That notion explains why the restoration efforts in Avenir rely heavily on the planting of native species. Having invasive species present creates what is known as a monoculture. Wildlife does not take up residence in these areas. There are also no natural pests to control these plants, and they expand and expand until they are the only plant that’s in a given area. These plants tend to eliminate everything but themselves.

As one can imagine, restoring thousands of acres with a meticulous eye on plant life and wildlife can take some time. Weinberg’s team is about five years into the restoration work and has seen the completion of about 1,000 acres, with another 1,000 remaining. In addition to planting vegetation, they have installed a system of monitoring wells (above and below ground), as they work to maintain an extensive trail system that covers approximately 300 acres. The trail system, which includes remnants of the old farm trail, recently opened to the public and residents of Avenir and beyond can now enjoy them. If you explore this area, be prepared to see a plethora of wading birds, snails, grasshoppers of every kind, and even deer, which we saw during our visit. A perimeter trail around the preserve contains multiple access points that lead to the larger system.

On the horizon, the city was just awarded a Land and Water Conservation Fund matching grant for $1.5 million for the Gardens Nature Park and Trail. Through a survey issued to residents in the area, the city received feedback regarding the desired recreation uses it should plan for 24 acres of land available to it through a development partnership established with Avenir Holding, LLC in May 2016. Those survey responses included a desire for nature areas and outdoor passive spaces. In this year’s budget, the city has allocated $900,000 to begin the design of the park which will include a hiking trail with trailhead connections, an educational pavilion, a butterfly habitat, and picnic, restroom and support facilities. Construction is planned to begin in 2026 and completion is estimated for the fall of 2027. In the meantime, residents can escape to the nearby nature of Avenir and explore the existing trail system. Now that Avenir has turned ownership of the conservation area over to the city, it will be added to the city’s inventory of outdoor recreation. As the property owners pass the torch, they are reflecting on the work they have done with the city in bringing the vision to life, says Rosa Schechter of Avenir Development, LLC. “The Conservation Area at Avenir is the result of a unique collaborative effort between Avenir Development and the City of Palm Beach Gardens,” recalls Schechter. “The project demonstrates the power of partnership in sustainable development and serves as a testament to how developers and innovative municipalities can work together to create a public benefit of regional significance.”