Tarpon Woods golf course plans to shut down, residents outraged

Future of Tarpon Woods golf course causing concern

Hundreds of people showed up Wednesday night at a meeting to talk about what’s next for Tarpon Woods, which could become a wetlands preserve if the owners get their way.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - Owners of the Tarpon Woods golf course are looking to close it and turn it into a wetlands preserve, but residents are concerned about a year of construction, the possibility of future residential properties, and their home values.

Developers said the golf course has been losing money for years, and no buyer has wanted to maintain it. Still, they said this project will not include any new residential buildings, but residents aren't happy.

"We have to do this to stop the development. It's going to completely disrupt and destroy the ecosystem, increase demand on our infrastructure that’s already over-taxed. It's going to drive down property taxes – and instead of the beautiful views of the homes that we bought, it's going to be gone," said Bill Nobles, a group organizer of "Save Tarpon Woods."

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Representatives for the developer did say wildlife would be displaced during the construction period, which will take about a year, hoping animals would come back to the area afterward.

"It's going to be disrupting certain areas, but the other areas of the course will still be available for the wildlife to migrate to as construction goes on," said Kyle Parks, who is representing the golf course.

Another concern is flooding, with plans to fill ponds and stop drainage systems that are in place.

"We already have existing flooding problems, including Hurricane Debby a few weeks ago... They're filling in those lakes, the destination for the access water to go away," said Nobles.

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Despite concerns, the development team and owners insist this project won’t include any residential development, and will ultimately promote more natural space.

"It's challenging to hear that their golf course is closing, but I felt like we did everything we could have explaining why the golf course is not working. We hope they come out of this meeting with the facts: There is not going to be residential development on the course," said Parks.

Wednesday night was the last scheduled public meeting for now. The developers are waiting for approval of their wetlands mitigation application, which could take 60 days.

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