MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Plans to pave over part of a park at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay campus have some people very upset.
The proposal would turn it into another entrance to the school, but there are those who don't want that to happen.
Karen Deleon and her husband have cycled through the hidden gem for more than 30 years.
"Roller skaters, bicycles, dogs -- you seem them all hours of the day into the early evening," she said.
The 13-acre Arch Creek East preserve is known for its bike trail and nature walk that pours to FIU's Biscayne Bay campus -- dedicated by the city to preserve its habitat.
"What we're doing here is habitat restoration to bring it to its full environmental potential, and that would all be lost if this becomes a four-way highway," Urban Paradise Guild founder Sam Van Leer said.
Following the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FIU proposed to open 135th Street as a second entrance to its north campus for security reasons, but that would mean plowing through the preserve and residents aren't pleased.
"I believe that FIU has other options, and instead they've tried to bully their way into our community," Ovidio Deleon said.
"Hundreds of people (are) showing up at council meetings -- over 2,300 (are) signing an online petition," Councilman Scott Galvin said.
FIU proposed the same change in 2011, but it failed after residents lobbied against it.
Now their back under House Bill 215, stating "a local governmental agency may not prevent public motor vehicle use or access to an existing transportation facility or corridor if it is the only point, or one of only two points, of entrance or exit to a state university."
"This isn't state land. This is the city's land," Galvin said. "There's a potential entrance off of 163rd, 143rd streets -- 151st (Street), which is the current entrance, is being widened by the county. There are other options than straight through somebody's neighborhood."
In 2007, the city officially designated the 13-acre track as the Arch Creek East nature preserve.
FIU's Biscayne Bay campus currently has only one entrance via 151st Street.