Town homes on the way to Countryside
While lamenting the loss of open space, County Commissioners say the town homes are less onerous than some of the alternatives for the failing golf course.
By LESTER R. DAILEY
| Article published on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 |
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CLEARWATER – When the U.S Homes Corp. built the nearby homes, it created the Countryside Golf Course and added a deed restriction saying that the property must remain a golf course for 20 years.
That restriction expired in 1997 and the owner, Executive Corp. of Clearwater, hopes to sell the failing 44.2-acre course to a developer who will build 280 town homes on it.
On Aug. 2, the city of Clearwater asked the County Commission to grant the rezoning, from Recreation/Open Space to Residential Urban, needed for the project to go forward. Gina Clayton of Clearwater’s Planning Department explained that unlike the county, which has separate zoning classifications for public and private recreational facilities, Clearwater lumps them together in a single category. That, she said, could give the erroneous impression that the town homes would be built on a public golf course.
“This property has historically been used as a business,” Clayton told the commissioners. “It is not public open space.”
She added that, if U.S. Homes had wanted the parcel to remain a golf course forever, it could have included language to that effect in the deed restriction.
The property, at 2506 Countryside Blvd., between Belcher Road and U.S. 19, includes the golf course and the Dogwater Café.
Tim Johnson, attorney for both the seller and the buyer, said his clients had held meetings of the neighbors to hear and address their concerns. The property, which now drains into the neighbors’ yards, will be regraded so all stormwater stays onsite, he said. When the neighbors worried about buffering, he added, his clients increased the setback and added landscaping, walls and fences to their plans.
Johnson told the commissioners that many of the neighbors now support the project. But Frank Westerman, president of the Laurelwood Village Homeowners Association, told them that the feeling isn’t unanimous. In fact, he added, 80 percent of the residents in his subdivision have signed petitions opposing the project.
“All the open space we moved here for is disappearing,” Westerman said. “I believe that when all the golf courses are gone – and they will be – and the businesses start to fail, we will be in a downward spiral in Pinellas County.”
Johnson contended that, with approximately 50 golf courses in Pinellas County, four of them near Countryside, Par 3 executive courses like Countryside are faring poorly. But Westerman disagreed, saying poor management is making Countryside go downhill, and an infusion of new capital could turn it around.
“This is going to be a very quality development,” Johnson said. “There will be a lot of open space in it.”
Although Residential Urban zoning would allow 331 residential units on the parcel, the developer is planning only 280, which will sell for about $300,000 apiece.
“I’ll make a prediction that you’re going to see more golf courses before you (for rezoning),” County Administrator Steve Spratt told the commissioners.
While lamenting the loss of the golf course, the commissioners unanimously approved the rezoning. Upscale town homes are a less onerous use of the land than most of the alternatives, they reasoned, and the county will still have plenty of open space.
“Our predecessors on the County Commission have done an excellent job of buying and setting aside land,” Commissioner Susan Latvala said. “We’ve got approximately 25 percent of the county set aside as open space.”
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Article published on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005
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