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Natura Resort Plans Unravel
By CHRISTIAN M. WADE The Tampa Tribune
Published: Feb 8, 2007
HUDSON - Bill Martin arrived with deep pockets and dreams of building a modern-day Eden.
The self-proclaimed Quaker nudist bought plots in Florida Naturist Park, founded in 1959 by white segregationists, with plans to transform the area into a Christian nudist resort with a church, town houses and a restaurant.
He called it Natura.
"At Natura, you will be able to freely raise children to feel good about their bodies and themselves," a promotional leaflet proclaimed at the time.
"At Natura, you can feel more connected, whole and free."
Five years later, the plans appear to have fallen apart amid a tangled web of legal challenges and opposition from the park's residents.
Martin's nonprofit organization, Venice-based Continuing Care, recently declared bankruptcy and put the property on the market.
The largely undeveloped 14 acres off Hudson Avenue that was supposed to become the centerpiece of a 200-acre project is listed for $695,000 by Fruits Real Estate Services.
Meanwhile, plans to build Martin's nudist resort in a small South Carolina city appear to have disintegrated over fierce public opposition.
Martin could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but Florida Naturist Park residents say they've been told the Hudson resort plans are dead.
"He [Martin] has declared openly that he is not going to do anything with this park," said resident Mike Thompson. "He wants to sell it."
Last year, Martin approached officials in the rural western South Carolina community of Belton to build a Christian nudist subdivision on 100 acres near the city's outskirts.
Residents opposed to the proposal started gathering signatures on a petition that called for a public referendum.
Martin withdrew his plans to buy the property in October, but members of a group he founded, Natura Christian Fellowship, still want to build it.
"There was tremendous opposition to this proposal," said Belton City Administrator David Watson. "We're a very conservative community."
Martin's quest to build a utopian settlement started in west Pasco, on a corner of Old Florida between State Road 52 and the Hernando County line, where cattle graze in sprawling fields and migrant workers toil in orange groves under the hot sun.
Florida Naturist Park was one of the county's first nudist colonies, founded more than a half-century ago by Ward and Dorothy Gulvin.
Ward Gulvin opposed integration and wanted to create a religious haven for nudists seeking escape from a rapidly changing world.
To buy property, you had to be a nudist, and you had to be white.
Gulvin died in 1994, at 90, and his settlement of sugar-sand trails, wooden street signs and mobile homes fell into disrepair.
Tall grass swallowed pristine fields, roads became impassable and the three small lakes dried up, collecting bags of decaying garbage.
Squatters took over abandoned and burned-out buildings. Teenagers desecrated the woods with trash and broken beer bottles. Convicted sex offenders moved into the neighborhood without being monitored.
That's when Martin came into the picture.
The land on which the Gulvin family raised seven children had become increasingly desirable as surrounding property values skyrocketed.
Martin bought several small park plots from the Gulvin heirs and unveiled plans to convert the park and the undeveloped land surrounding it.
But shortly after, Martin imposed new rules, including "mandatory social nudism," and hefty membership and maintenance fees.
Infuriated, the park's 70 or so residents staged protests against Martin and his group and posted dozens of homemade signs on chicken-wire fencing surrounding the property: "No Natura. Bill Martin, Keep Out."
The dispute soon moved from the neighborhood to the courtroom as residents and the Gulvins sued Martin and Continuing Care.
Several lawsuits have been settled. Others remain in litigation, leaving open the question of who has management rights to the park.
T&T Management, based in Stuart, owns about 115 acres surrounding the park and plans to develop the property as a regular subdivision. Plans for the nudist resort are no longer part of that project.
And Martin hasn't been seen around the park in months.
That's good news to Ray Cotton, 62, a retired state corrections officer, former Marine and a nudist who has lived there nearly a decade.
He was one of several residents who fought the resort plans.
"We'll be happy if he never sets foot on this property again," Cotton said.
Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or [email protected].
Link to full article.
[Everyone was warned not to get involved with Bill Martin over and over again.]
By CHRISTIAN M. WADE The Tampa Tribune
Published: Feb 8, 2007
HUDSON - Bill Martin arrived with deep pockets and dreams of building a modern-day Eden.
The self-proclaimed Quaker nudist bought plots in Florida Naturist Park, founded in 1959 by white segregationists, with plans to transform the area into a Christian nudist resort with a church, town houses and a restaurant.
He called it Natura.
"At Natura, you will be able to freely raise children to feel good about their bodies and themselves," a promotional leaflet proclaimed at the time.
"At Natura, you can feel more connected, whole and free."
Five years later, the plans appear to have fallen apart amid a tangled web of legal challenges and opposition from the park's residents.
Martin's nonprofit organization, Venice-based Continuing Care, recently declared bankruptcy and put the property on the market.
The largely undeveloped 14 acres off Hudson Avenue that was supposed to become the centerpiece of a 200-acre project is listed for $695,000 by Fruits Real Estate Services.
Meanwhile, plans to build Martin's nudist resort in a small South Carolina city appear to have disintegrated over fierce public opposition.
Martin could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but Florida Naturist Park residents say they've been told the Hudson resort plans are dead.
"He [Martin] has declared openly that he is not going to do anything with this park," said resident Mike Thompson. "He wants to sell it."
Last year, Martin approached officials in the rural western South Carolina community of Belton to build a Christian nudist subdivision on 100 acres near the city's outskirts.
Residents opposed to the proposal started gathering signatures on a petition that called for a public referendum.
Martin withdrew his plans to buy the property in October, but members of a group he founded, Natura Christian Fellowship, still want to build it.
"There was tremendous opposition to this proposal," said Belton City Administrator David Watson. "We're a very conservative community."
Martin's quest to build a utopian settlement started in west Pasco, on a corner of Old Florida between State Road 52 and the Hernando County line, where cattle graze in sprawling fields and migrant workers toil in orange groves under the hot sun.
Florida Naturist Park was one of the county's first nudist colonies, founded more than a half-century ago by Ward and Dorothy Gulvin.
Ward Gulvin opposed integration and wanted to create a religious haven for nudists seeking escape from a rapidly changing world.
To buy property, you had to be a nudist, and you had to be white.
Gulvin died in 1994, at 90, and his settlement of sugar-sand trails, wooden street signs and mobile homes fell into disrepair.
Tall grass swallowed pristine fields, roads became impassable and the three small lakes dried up, collecting bags of decaying garbage.
Squatters took over abandoned and burned-out buildings. Teenagers desecrated the woods with trash and broken beer bottles. Convicted sex offenders moved into the neighborhood without being monitored.
That's when Martin came into the picture.
The land on which the Gulvin family raised seven children had become increasingly desirable as surrounding property values skyrocketed.
Martin bought several small park plots from the Gulvin heirs and unveiled plans to convert the park and the undeveloped land surrounding it.
But shortly after, Martin imposed new rules, including "mandatory social nudism," and hefty membership and maintenance fees.
Infuriated, the park's 70 or so residents staged protests against Martin and his group and posted dozens of homemade signs on chicken-wire fencing surrounding the property: "No Natura. Bill Martin, Keep Out."
The dispute soon moved from the neighborhood to the courtroom as residents and the Gulvins sued Martin and Continuing Care.
Several lawsuits have been settled. Others remain in litigation, leaving open the question of who has management rights to the park.
T&T Management, based in Stuart, owns about 115 acres surrounding the park and plans to develop the property as a regular subdivision. Plans for the nudist resort are no longer part of that project.
And Martin hasn't been seen around the park in months.
That's good news to Ray Cotton, 62, a retired state corrections officer, former Marine and a nudist who has lived there nearly a decade.
He was one of several residents who fought the resort plans.
"We'll be happy if he never sets foot on this property again," Cotton said.
Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (727) 815-1082 or [email protected].
Link to full article.
[Everyone was warned not to get involved with Bill Martin over and over again.]
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