A proposal that will be put to a vote on March 14 would require developers in unincorporated areas around Naples, Fla. to put up a greenway that is between 75 and 100 feet wide around the perimeter of the property before they can begin tearing out fairways to put up houses. Developers would also have to offer the golf course for sale to neighborhood associations and the county.
After studying the issue for six months, commissioners in Collier County, Fla. may approve new rules limiting how developers can turn golf courses into housing developments, the Naples (Fla.) Daily News reported.
A proposal that will be put to a vote on March 14 would require developers to put up a greenway that is between 75 and 100 feet wide around the perimeter of the property before they can begin tearing out fairways to put up houses, the Daily News reported.
Developers would also have to offer the golf course for sale to neighborhood associations and the county to keep operating it as a golf course or convert it to a park. Additionally, developers would be required to host two public meetings with nearby neighborhoods and ultimately get approval from commissioners to make the conversion.
If the new rules are passed, it would end a months-long moratorium that has blocked developers from seeking new zoning on golf courses, the Daily News reported. Four courses have so far expressed interest to the county in closing down.
The greenway would provide some basic protection to homeowners who bought their properties for their golf-course views, Commissioner Burt Saunders said.
“If there’s going to be a conversion, there has to be some way to protect the people who bought property on a golf course,” Saunders said. “The process would make it more difficult to do a conversion, and I don’t have a problem with that, because it should be difficult.”
The proposal would require that a minimum of 35 percent of the land under a conversion project be dedicated as a greenway, with an average minimum width of 100 feet along the perimeter of the course, the Daily News reported.
The rules would only apply to the unincorporated county and wouldn’t affect courses in Naples.
The proposal asks developers to consider amenities, such as walking paths, for neighbors on any green spaces, the Daily News reported.
The new rules would bring the public into the process earlier and attempt to balance the interests of business owners with homeowners who have been paying a premium for views, said Mike Bosi, the county’s Zoning Director.
The county’s development services advisory committee, a voluntary advisory group made up of developers, objected to any additional design standards, saying the current zoning standards are sufficient, the Daily News reported.
Commissioner Penny Taylor said she supported the greenway requirements. Taylor said the county needs to make it clear that developers would be responsible for any mitigation or water issues that could come up, due to the fertilizer or pesticides used to keep courses open year-round.
“I am concerned about mitigation,” Taylor said. “Traditionally, golf courses have always used a lot more fertilizer and pesticides, so I want to make sure if there is runoff into a lake where people are now going to be living that the developer is responsible for that.”
The rules are based on researching what other communities across the country have imposed to deal with converting golf courses, Taylor noted. “This is a great start,” she said.
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