Writer Michael Reed staff bio send email C ooksey's Camping Resort on Anastasia Island, one of the last rural tracts of land near St. Augustine Beach and sandwiched between growing developments, may become a gated community. A deal is in the works in which St. Augustine Beach would annex the 117-acre property. In return, developers would build something similar to Sea Colony or Island Hammock, two upscale beach neighborhoods. The beach tried to buy Cooksey's property and make it a park through the Florida Communities Trust in May of 1999, and later in 2000, but could not get enough grant money from the state. Cooksey's Camping Resort, at 2795 State Road A1A, is a sprawling campground with somewhere between 50 and 100 recreational vehicles.
Residents stay for varying amounts of time, and some live there year-round.
Roy and Yvette Richer live in Ontario, Canada, but visit the campsite each spring and fall for two months. If the property is sold, and a subdivision built, Roy said he would sell his camping trailer and his camping days would be over. Some permanent residents of the campsite dismissed the proposal as a rumor or refused to comment because they said it was none of their business. But I'd hate to go. The sale of the property from Ed Cooksey to the Collins Group, the developers, is contingent on the beach annexing the campground and rezoning part of it for residential use, said George McClure, attorney for the developers.