If you fly over Northeast Florida — or even just glance at a map — one of the first things that jumps out is a massive piece of green amid all the development in southern Jacksonville.
It stretches north to south approximately from J. Turner Butler Boulevard to Nocatee, and west to east from the new developments alongside I-295 all the way to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Most of this land is owned by the Davis family, founders of the Winn-Dixie grocery chain. At one point, the Dee Dot Ranch (named by J.E. Davis after his children, Dano and Dorothy) included about 51,000 acres in southeastern Duval County and northeastern St. Johns County. Through the decades, the family has sold some of its land for developments like Nocatee…