Awash with love: Art Jones has turned an overgrown four

Jul 31, 2023

Art Jones shows a flowering bottlebrush plant, one of thousands that line the shoreline, having built a root system into the seawall made of geobags filled with a combination of dirt and sand. Bottlebrush plants are a good source, as these enjoy having “wet feet.”

At one point, this lagoon was filled with cattails. For the past three years, Art Jones, who owns the property the lagoon is situated in, would go in at low tide and remove the cattails. Nowadays, manatees feast on the cattail shoots.

Eleven years ago, 1196 N. Stoney Point was overgrown. Trees along the shoreline were collapsing because soil was washing away into the water, leaving the trees with nothing to anchor the roots. A lagoon was infested with cattails. Algae washed along the property.

Today it is hard to conceive what that all looked like, especially the lagoon, which holds a tender spot in Art Jones’s heart. He’s the man who practically one-handed has turned the four-acre property into the natural habitat it now is.

Art Jones shows a flowering bottlebrush plant, one of thousands that line the shoreline, having built a root system into the seawall made of geobags filled with a combination of dirt and sand. Bottlebrush plants are a good source, as these enjoy having “wet feet.”

Three years ago, when the tide was low, Jones would wade into the lagoon and start removing the cattails. Once in awhile he would have another man help, but not often.

“I thought that removing the cattails would have to be done every year,” Jones said. He was wrong, because the lagoon became a haven for manatees. “At high tide the manatees come in and munch on the cattail sprouts. It’s kind of their way of saying thanks.”

Jones first came across the property around the time while he was working on a project, “One Rake at a Time” on the northern end of King’s Bay. Part of that project was to remove algae. The property was spotted as efforts were underway to find a site to dispose of the algae; it wasn’t at 1196 Stoney Point.

However, even its overgrown state captured the imagination of Jones, but the price tag was something he couldn’t afford.

“Then a friend of mine notified me the property was going up for auction,” he said. So he put in a bid, which turned out to be the winning bid.

Erosion was a serious problem, so much that Art Jones spent the past 11 years building a natural seawall that now stretches approximately 1,800 feet around his Stoney Point property. The seawall is composed of Envirolock bags that weigh approximately 100 pounds apiece and are stacked four to five bags high, making the seawall about 5 to 6 feet high. The bags are composed of dirt and sand, allowing vegetation to form a root system to lock the bags in place.

With that he invited an official with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who helped Jones develop a plan to stop the erosion, remove invasive plants, and save the cedar trees that dotted the property.

One of the first things he started work on was building a natural seawall using Envirolock bags. These are a fully engineered (mechanically stabilized earth) wall system, that uses geobags, which are designed to permanently stabilize slopes, waterways and shorelines. It combines the engineered strength of soil with the principles of plant ecology to deliver a sustainable, vegetative solution. There now is more than 1,800 feet of natural seawall constructed.

“This is 11 years of work, all by hand,” he said; 11 years filling the bags with soil and sand, layering these five to six atop each other to create a seawall five to six feet high. The bags weigh approximately 100 pounds apiece. “Now these are locked in by bottlebrush trees for protection, because they like wet feet.”

Cedar trees dot the four acres at 1196 North Stoney Point, which its current owner hopes will be sold to someone who – or some entity that – will keep the property in its natural environment. Some of the cedar trees on the property are believed to be as old as at least 200 years.

Now Jones believes the time has come for someone other than himself to be its steward.

“It’s time to pass it on to somebody younger,” he said. Part of that is because he will need to focus his attention on the next project. “I’ll be working on the Rainbow River restoration project.”

Jones hasn’t yet placed the property up for sale. His hope is that either the City of Crystal River or Citrus County (or maybe a combination of the two governmental entities) buys the property.

“I want to put it to the community first,” he said. He’s been in contact with the county’s tourism board, which expressed an interest in him making a presentation to its members. He also has contacted at least one manatee organization.

This inlet is on one side of the property, while on another side is a canal.

“I brought the manatee people out here and asked if there’s a need for a manatee rehab and they said yes,” said Jones.

There are six different possibilities for the property that Jones has listed in a brochure he put together, starting with a manatee rehab facility. Another approach might be to create a nature sanctuary, as the property is already an ideal wildlife sanctuary for birds, fish, plants and other animal and vegetation species.

The property at 1196 N. Stoney Point is made up of the mainland, a peninsula and some islands. Depending upon which map is used, this island might or might not be part of the property. At one time it contained a tree that was later felled by a hurricane, according to Art Jones, the owner of the property.

Because part of the property is bordered by a back canal, it could serve as an environmental park, with the waterway being the only way to access the grounds, making it a tourist destination. Another potential use could be as an aquaculture operation, where experiments could be conducted, or for farming aquatic vegetable, grains or farm fishing. A fifth possibility is serving as a research station, as it is situated by the bay, where it will be possible to observe changes.

The sixth option is perhaps the least desirable to Jones, and that is for the construction of a single-family residence. However, it would have to be built (on stilts) while preserving the ecological importance of the land, meaning the owner would have to ensure the property stays maintained and exotic, keeping invasive plants at bay, plus keeping the lagoon clear. As Jones writes in the brochure, “With its private beach, room for a dock, and seclusion on a dead-end street, it could be the perfect private estate.”

This makeshift boardwalk is a shortcut to the peninsula. Other similar boardwalks link to the islands that are part of the property.

To learn more, contact Art Jones at 727-642-7659. As this is private property that is protected, it is necessary to contact Jones if interested in viewing.

You can contact Steve Steiner at [email protected].