Several new pieces of information regarding the future of Walden Lake Golf & Country Club and its two golf courses were made public during a special Walden Lake Community Association workshop Nov. 19, at Plant City Church of God.
The highlights:
• Visions Golf LLC, the owner of the country club and golf courses, could be ready to submit its rezone request to the city as soon as next month.
• Visions Golf has no plans to reopen the Hills course before or during the rezone process.
• Visions Golf Managing Partner Steve Mercer said his company has been released from any covenants it had with Walden Lake’s original developer, Walden Lake Inc. This includes the conveyance documents that state no redevelopment can take place until 2015.
• Visions Golf has not received any contracts or proposals to purchase the country club and golf course. WLCA President Jan Griffin said she has not approached Visions Golf regarding the residents buying the course. She said she believes the purchase price would be more than $5 million.
• The only retail proposed in the redevelopment will be located in the clubhouse and will include uses such as a restaurant, bar, lounge and pro shop.
• The redevelopment proposal calls for 27 holes of golf, utilizing the back nine holes of both existing courses. The remaining nine will be created using portions of the front nine of each of the Hills and Lakes courses.
The workshop marked the first time WLCA leaders, city officials and Mercer all met with residents since July, when resident Shelly Orrico began her fight against any potential golf course redevelopment.
The workshop also was the first time WLCA directors spoke openly regarding their opinions on redevelopment.
“Every one of us lives in this community, and we all understand that the golf course is a big part of this community,” Griffin said. “I really would wish to have the community as it was a couple of years ago. Right now, you know there is a mess … on the Hills course.”
Still, Griffin said, the board has no standing or capability to assist in the residents’ fight at this point.
“We have no rights to do anything,” she said. “Your board’s job … is to take care of the common grounds. That’s what we’re elected to do. We try very hard to do that.
“We all feel very connected to the community; we all want a golf course community,” Griffin said. “I’m a golfer. I want to play golf. But … our attorneys have advised us to wait until there is something to fight.”
Mercer indicated his team is almost ready to submit its rezone request to the city and could do so in as little as 30 days.
“We intend on working with the community once the plan is complete,” Mercer said. “It is a little premature right now, because we don’t have anything that is any more concrete than what was put out a couple of months ago.”
That document detailed plans for 95 acres of development, including about 200 single-family homes, about 60 town homes or villas, independent and assisted-living villas, and a memory care facility. The renovated golf course would include an 18-hole “premium golf experience,” a nine-hole executive par-three course, new clubhouse and maintenance facility and renovated fitness center, aquatic center and tennis courts.
If built, the new homes would constitute a new community within Walden Lake. It would then apply to be part of the WLCA, Mercer said. Residents in this new community also would be required to become members of the golf and country club, which Mercer said would establish a strong base for the business.
Mercer said he is hopeful residents will be pleased with the complete plan.
“The perception is that we’re just out to destroy the community,” he said. “We’re trying to save the business. But, in turn, saving the business and improving it, we believe it … will enhance the community. I know there will be a sacrifice of some of the property because of the change, and we’ve explored every avenue we can.”
Mercer said his team has worked with management firms and developers to help create the proposal. All involved have indicated the key to the project’s success is preserving Walden Lake’s tight-knit community and enhancing the amenities.
“The builders and developers … they love Walden Lake,” he said. “They love what it has to offer to new homeowners.”
Some residents who attended the meeting weren’t convinced, citing Mercer’s track record since taking over the amenities in August 2006.
“I just took a $30,000 loss on my house, because of your non-maintenance of the Hills course,” said Orrico, whose home backs to the course. “I’m so upset that I planted 66 bushes in my back yard, so I wouldn’t have to look at the Hills. … Your lack of caring for this community is insulting.”
Terry Murphy agreed.
“Typically, in business, you look for your business in your own back yard,” she said. “I’ve lived on the Hills for nine years now. … If you come into our community and destroy it as we know it, I assure you, there will be no business coming from your back yard.”
Mercer said the Great Recession has claimed the golf courses of 1,100 communities throughout the country and that Visions Golf is trying to avoid that same fate.
“We’re trying to save a golfing home inside Walden Lake,” he said. “In the first six months of this year, every sector of golf operations around us dropped 11%. It gets to a point when you can no longer invest into an operation that shows no hope of recovery.
“We’re trying to resolve this the best we can,” he said. “We know it impacts people. … We’re willing to do try to what we’re doing, to reinvest, to reboot the property and turn it over to a management company that has had success not just dealing with golf but also community.”
City Manager Greg Horwedel and Principal Planner Phillip Scearce also attended the meeting and shared information regarding the rezone process. A rezone request of this type would go through several agencies, including the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, the Hillsborough Planning Commission, the Hillsborough County School Board, among others. The rezone also would be scrutinized regarding traffic, stormwater and environmental impacts, as well as compatibility with surrounding development.
Following those processes, the rezone request would go before the Plant City Planning Board and finally to the Plant City Commission.
In total, the request for rezone is a long, involved process that would take at least six months (and more likely a year) to complete.
Furthermore, Horwedel and Scearce stressed resident input is an important component in the process.
“The weight is tremendous (regarding) what residents have to say,” Scearce said. “Citizen input is very important.”
Scearce used the recent Dollar General proposal as an example. Although city staff recommended approval of the proposal, because of resident input, the planning board recommended denial. Ultimately, the application was withdrawn, he said.
Horwedel agreed and said the best practice is for applicants to communicate with residents directly to alleviate any problems before the project arrives on a City Commission agenda.
“They (the city commissioners) do give great weight to citizens’ concerns,” he said. “We always encourage applicants to work directly with the neighborhood to begin with. It saves a lot of angst and helps clear up a lot of issues.”
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.