Visions Golf Managing Partner Steve Mercer and his attorney, land-use specialist Ron Weaver, will make a presentation to Walden Lake residents at the Walden Lake Community Association’s annual meeting next month.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at Plant City Church of God, 2103 Mud Lake Road. The presentation will be Mercer’s first since his company filed its rezone request with Plant City to redevelop portions of the Walden Lake Golf and Country Club property.
WLCA directors said it is imperative they give Visions Golf a chance to make a presentation before they would take a position on the proposed changes. WLCA President Jan Griffin said she hopes to schedule a meeting with the board’s attorney, Steve Mezer, of Bush Ross, to inform him of the board’s desire to take a position.
Since Visions Golf closed The Hills course last May, Walden Lake residents opposing the redevelopment have asked the WLCA to join them in their battle. So far, on the advice of their attorney, board directors have remained neutral. Residents Shelly Orrico, who spearheaded the residents’ anti-development campaign and petition, and George Clifford again asked for the WLCA’s support in her efforts at the board’s March 17 meeting. However, Griffin said the board must wait until after the directors have a chance to meet with Mezer. The tentative date for that meeting is April 3.
“It was two weeks before the last (WLCA) meeting, when Mercer filed for the rezoning,” Clifford said. “The attorney has had six weeks, and we still haven’t gotten any suggestions from him?”
Griffin said scheduling conflicts have caused the delay.
“We haven’t had an opportunity to have the whole board together to talk to him,” she said. “We are volunteers. … Now, we are all available, and we will be discussing it with him.”
Orrico said the continued delays are frustrating.
“I have finally given up on the president and the board,” she said. “After waiting six weeks for a positive response from the board, the response was, ‘We havent spoke with our attorney yet.’ I will move forward and hope that our Walden Lake community and our business owners in Plant City will see the future as it really is: more traffic, our ponds filled in and our cozy way of life altered. … I feel strongly that, as a community, we can and will stop the rezoning without leadership from our board.”
Although Visions Golf filed the rezone request Feb. 19, the city deemed the application incomplete, because it was missing information. WLCA Director Bob Hunter said the city should be sending a detailed letter to Visions Golf this week detailing those missing items.
Hunter also said the city will ask Ramond Chiaramonte, executive director of the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission, to determine whether a Comprehensive Plan land-use change is required, in addition to the rezone of the property. Hunter, who held that position before he retired, said a land-use change takes anywhere from six months to a year to complete, and it typically is done before the rezoning process.
Weaver — of Tampa-based firm Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff and Sitterson — said the proposed redevelopment would translate to a dramatic improvement in the community.
Weaver said the project would have significant economic impacts on Plant City, including 100 permanent jobs, $300 million in revenues, $20 million in construction wages and more. He also said the development likely would include an expansion of Laurel Lake — and not filling in the lake as WLCA directors speculated last month. The proposed multi-family units would not be apartments but rather condominiums, villas and townhomes, and resulting improvements to the country club amenities would include a new clubhouse and banquet facilities, new cart paths, bridges, bathrooms and fairway turf, and a renovated fitness center and pool.
“We’re working hard to be a good citizen,” he said. “We want to restore (Walden Lake Golf & Country Club) to its former glory.”
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.
IN OTHER NEWS
• WLCA leaders directed On-Site Manager Lee Weiss to obtain quotes for updating and/or replacing the two security guard gates and cameras in the community. The directive came after one of the gates malfunctioned and was stuck in the down position.
• Weiss also met with U.S. Security Associates regarding the behavior of one its officers stationed at the Alexander Street guard gate. Weiss said he had received complaints regarding the officer’s demeanor, use of profanity and impersonating an officer of the law. Weiss asked the company to find a suitable replacement, but as of March 17, the officer still was stationed at Walden Lake.
• The annual Walden Lake community garage sale will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 26.
• The board approved the installation of a sign denoting the entrance for The Hammocks as a designated Florida native plant garden. The neighborhood had previously had problems with landscaping workers mistaking the garden as weeds and trimming the plants with their weed eaters.