by William V.
To Neighbors in the surrounding areas of the Palm Harbor Golf Course
Dear Neighbor,
The City and a developer are looking to make a deal that will put FIVE HUGE 3 story multi-family apartment buildings on the golf course. Adverse effects will be thrust upon ALL SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS of the Palm Harbor Golf Course if this deal goes through!
An initial meeting is being held Thursday, October 24, at the Community Center in room 112 at 6pm. The City only requires notification to be sent to residents within 300 feet of the proposed development(!). There is also a VERY IMPORTANT MEETING of the City Planning Board on November 20 at City Hall.
The City has remained silent about this purposed rezoning and HAS NOT notified ANYONE in the surrounding neighborhoods bordering the golf course of their intentions.
WITH ALL OF THE AVAILABLE LAND CURRENTLY FOR SALE IN THE CITY OF PALM COAST THERE IS NO NEED TO “SHOE HORN” A PROJECT WITH 5 HUGE APARTMENT BUILDINGS INTO AN AREA OF BEAUTIFUL ESTABLISHED HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS OF PALM HARBOR,COVINGTON PARK AND THE OAKS AS WELL AS THE OTHER SURROUNDING SUBDIVISIONS!!
The special exemption that was given to Centex to build on the driving range has expired ! The driving range property is currently Zoned for a Golf Course. The owner is now legally UNABLE to build on the land and wants to give the City the Driving Range area in exchange for rezoning the property along Cooper Drive near the existing Club House/Restaurant area in the heart of the Golf Course ! He wants to build FIVE HUGE 3 STORY APARTMENT BUILDINGS in that area!!!!
Instead of inflicting all of these totally Unwanted and Unnecessary changes in Our Community, Our Lives, Our Wildlife, and Our Property it is imperative that the City purchase the driving range land in order to gain 100% ownership and control of the Golf Course !!
The job of our Elected Officials in our City is to work in the best interest of our Tax Paying Citizens and our Beloved City of Palm Coast.!! This purposed Rezoning of the Golf Course DOES NOT ADHERE TO THAT RESPONSIBILITY !!
If the owner refuses to sell the property at a Fair Price it could be obtained with the use of the FLORIDA “EMINENT DOMAIN” PROCEDURES. The current owner of this property knew what he was getting into when he bought this land. He’s a Professional Developer that knows all the trick and how to “Strong Arm” City Officials into this BAD DEAL !!
The developer doesn’t live around here and he couldn’t care less about the surrounding community and I’m starting to believe neither does our Elected Officials !! He wants to make a Bundle of Cash on this BAD DEAL and then move on to the “MARINA PROJECT” at Club House Drive and Palm Harbor Parkway to “MAKE ANOTHER BUNDLE” as part of the Golf Course Deal.
EVERY PROPERTY IN THE SURROUNDING GOLF COURSE AREA HAS BEEN DEVALUED OVER THE YEARS BECAUSE OF THE GOLF COURSE’S UNCERTAIN FUTURE !THESE CHANGES WILL DESTROY EVERYONE’S PROPERTY VALUE IN THE AFFECTED AREAS……. BUT OUR TAXES GO UP!
For the last 14 years local homeowners have been agonizing about the fate of their properties!. Also during the last 14 years at various times the tax paying citizens have expressed their opinions at town meetings and the vast majority of them don’t want any thing built on the golf course! They want their golf course and their driving range! This has been a long ongoing battle that need to be finalized with an outcome in favor of surrounding communities KEEP OUR GOLF COURSE Zoned as a Golf Course and not a MEGA 3 STORY APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT !!
As well as the golf course project the city is also simultaneously actively pursuing the possibility of OWNERSHIP of the marina located near Palm Harbor Parkway and Club House Drive . Before the city embarks on the pursuit of MARINA OWNERSHIP, they should have complete ownership and control of the golf course property and strive to make all necessary improvements to it before embarking on a MARINA project!
That would put an end to the 14 year old golf course debacle, make the citizens happy. Also the city management can be proud they did their job and really did something GREAT that benefits the entire city !
BELOW IS A LIST OF SOME OF THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THE GOLF COURSE REZONING PROPOSAL
1) The FIVE 3 story apartment/condo buildings purposed do not fit in with the Historical Architecture that surrounds the Golf Course. The 5 apartment buildings will also take away the ambience and natural surroundings that keeps golfers coming back to enjoy the course, it’s beauty and wildlife.
2) The Extreme amount of traffic especially in the PALM HARBOR neighborhood located on Cooper Lane and Casper Lane and the subdivisions of THE OAKS and COVINGTON PARK on Palm Harbor Drive will increase by hundreds and hundreds of vehicles everyday. This will create much traffic congestion, safety issues, noise and air pollution. All other surrounding neighborhoods will experience much of this also! WE DON’T WANT AN ENDLESS FLOW OF VEHICLES ON OUR QUIET STREETS! !We don’t want to end up with the problem of an endless flow of traffic similar to the unfixable situation currently plaguing Florida Park Drive.!!.
3) The current sewage system in surrounding neighborhoods is inadequate now for the amount of waste to dispose of and process. This purposed project will overload our current system and cause possible back-ups of raw sewage in our neighborhoods.
4) There will be trespassers on the course after closing, foot traffic, and people walking animals on the golf course and in our back yards. A lot of this will occur after golf course hours and there is also a real possibility of an increase of crime in our neighborhoods.
5) WE NEED TO HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY INITIATED TO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF THIS PROPOSED PROJECT TO OUR LIVES,THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR BELOVED WILDLIFE. There are nests of OWLS,OSPREY, HAWKS and GOPHER TURTLES and other wildlife in the proximity of the new buildings, all of which will be which will be displaced or adversely impacted by construction.
Thank you for you interest in this and I hope together we can make our Palm Harbor neighborhoods a better place for everyone to live!
