TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida senator has filed a bill that would prohibit developers from building on state park lands.

This comes just a few months after a whistleblower leaked controversial plans that would have resulted in golf courses, hotels, and pickleball courts being built in a handful of Florida’s state parks.

The proposals sparked protests across the state, with the whistleblower stating in a GoFundMe that he released the “atrocious” plans because he felt they were being kept a secret from the public.

While the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) later withdrew the proposed amendments at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Gayle Harrell’s bill, dubbed the “State Park Preservation Act,” aims to make sure something like that can’t happen again.

The bill would require public hearings for all conservation and nonconservation land management plans and provide a specific timeframe for which these plans must be made available to the public.

The bill’s text also states that it would prohibit the division from authorizing “certain uses or construction activities within a state park,” including the installation of “any lodging establishment.”

Instead, state parks would be asked to focus on “conservation-based public outdoor recreational uses” that don’t disrupt nature or require a facility. Such activities include things like fishing, bicycling, hiking, swimming, boating and more.

Campsites and camping cabins that meet a certain list of requirements would still be permitted under the bill.

Harrell, who is a Republican representing Florida Senate District 31, filed the bill on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The bill still has to pass through the senate and house, but if approved, it would take effect in July 2025.