Article Courtesy of The
Tampa Bay Times
By Barbara Behrendt
Published March 7, 2024
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The future of the defunct golf course in Beacon Woods could finally be resolved
soon.
Shuttered in 2019 like so many other courses in Pasco County and elsewhere that
no longer drew enough golfers to survive, the Beacon Woods course in Hudson will
become something else. In this case, however, adjacent residents have had more
to say about what that will be than in other former golf course communities.
Despite efforts to
improve the golf course with upgraded greens and tee areas
and other changes, the owner, Lowman Links, was unable to
generate enough community support to keep it open. Soon
after the course closed, portions of the property were
planted with trees.
Now the Lowman Links property is under contract with Ryan
Homes, which plans to build 218 homes, a developer’s
representative told Pasco planning commissioners last week.
Part of the agreement also included an offer to two of the
community’s village homeowners associations that back up to
the golf course property.
If the residents of those two villages, known as the Estates
and Reserve of Beacon Woods and Fairway Oaks agree, the
former golf course fairways would be deeded over to them at
no cost. That is a rare deal for the 25-acre and 20-acre
properties.
“This is quite an opportunity that I have never seen in all
my years, for the home owners to control their properties
and control what’s in their backyard,” said Barbara Wilhite,
representing Ryan Homes at a Planning Commission meeting in
October.
She said she could recite what has happened to other defunct
Pasco golf courses. The county took over Timber Oaks, Gulf
Harbors and Magnolia Valley, while “Quail Hollow has homes
on it,” she said.
Eighty seven percent of the Beacon Woods
residents in the Estates voted in favor of taking over
responsibility for the golf course land in the area closest
to them in January 2023. Fairway Oaks homeowners
representatives had not yet responded despite numerous
notices and public meetings on the topic as of last week’s
Planning Commission meeting. |
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The Links golf course in Beacon Woods closed in 2019
and for the last few months the owner has been working with the
county on a new plan for the property. Some nearby neighbors are
accepting an offer from the owners Lowman Links to take on
responsibility for the land, which is now planted with trees.
Another homeowners group has not yet stepped forward to decide if
the old tree-planted fairways should become their responsibility.
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The discussion to finalize the sale of the property has dragged on as
details of the new ownership arrangement have been tweaked. There has been a
discussion about whether the trees planted on the golf course land could
someday be harvested. The county’s provisions for changing the use of the
land from a golf course are specific no matter whether ownership of parcels
remain with the Lowman family or is transferred to homeowners’ associations.
Various passive uses would be considered acceptable, from a neighborhood
park to “bonafide” timber farming, according to the county memorandum
considered last week by the Planning Commission.
Wilhite told commission members that residents of the Estates are ready to
take over the property and that the property owner and Ryan Homes were
satisfied with the details. She said she has not worked with Fairway Oaks.
Jack Brummett, the president of the Estates Homeowners Association, said
that his community has stepped up to do what is necessary to take on the
25-acre parcel. They have already been out on the land in three work days.
“Our people are working vigorously to keep the fairways looking nice and
they do look beautiful,” he said. “We’ve got skin in this and our people
want it to happen.”
He added, “it’s been four years since the closure. We’re ready to move on.”
Joseph Sears, who lives in the adjacent Enclave area of the Estates, said he
also supports taking on the land and believes that homeowners have worked
well with the current land owner and have also proven their commitment.
“Since 2020, our community has embraced the change from golf course to tree
farm by spending hundreds if not thousands of sweat equity hours cleaning up
the fairways. I want to add this was done at no cost to Pasco County
taxpayers,” Sears said.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the
change in the land designation to the County Commission which is scheduled
to consider the application March 26.
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