Tamarac agrees to housing revision
152-house project closer to reality
The development of 152 house son Tamara c’ s Wood mont golf course — more than a decade in the making — could now be mere months away from reality.
Bringing it closer to fruition was the City Commission’s agreeing to a developer’s request to change the plans during a lengthy meeting Wednesday. The revision: A maintenance shed storing sprinklers and mowers will be moved from a proposed spot on University Drive toin stead sit behind ahalf dozen Woodmont homes that have had a golf-course view.
Woodmont owner Mark Schmidt said itwas the only spot to accommodate the 7,200-square-foot building, which will be14 feet high.
Some residents said theywere devastated. Patricia Wynn said she bought herhomein Pines III because of the golf course and sunset view and now fears her home will plummet in value. “Our voices madeno difference,” she said.
A pending lawsuit by another company against the club has delayed the project, but a spokesman for Pulte Homes said construction on the 44-acre site could begin this summer.
Golf courses being used for new housing has been happening across the region. Some recent examples:
In Hollywood, construction for Parkview at Hillcrest has started to transform a golf
course into a gated community with a total of 645 houses and townhouses.
At Villages of Oriole, west of Delray Beach, residents this month approved a developer’s plan to build 521 homes and apartments on a former golf course.
Miami-based 13th Floor intends to build104 single family homes, 200 apartments and 217 villas on an 107-acre golf course site. 13th Floor is the same company that built the 253-home Central Parc development on a former golf course in Tamarac along Commercial Boulevard just west of the turnpike.
The fate of the Woodmont golf course has concerned the city and residents for years. The proposal for homes has undergone many changes.
In 2006, Schmidt proposed 448 housing units and a luxury hotel. Residents said they wanted their golf course views left intact. The plan, revised numerous times to include less housing, was defeated in 2007.
A few years later, Schmidt proposed 255 single-family houses and nearly 61,000 square feet of commercial space. Schmidt withdrew his plan after residents hired lawyers and pledged to fight the project.
City staff supported the smaller, current version,
The fate of the Woodmont golf course has concerned the city and residents for years.
which includes one- and two-story homes with prices starting at $350,000.
Plans were approved in 2014. It also calls for nine of the18 holes on the Pines course to be reopened. The 18-hole Cypress championship course will remain intact. Schmidt said he also wants to modify the current driving range to eventually build an aqua driving range for both courses.
The plan also calls for commercial development on 4.5 acres at the southeast corner of Pine Island Road and Southgate Boulevard.
Commissioner Debra Placko, who lives in Woodmont, started Wednesday’s meeting by saying that the shed behind houses was “unacceptable” andit “cannotbe in a residential area, it just cannot. It is not fair to the community.” She changed her mind after the developer tinkered with the plans, saying it was good for the community overall. “I’m at a loss how to make everybody happy,” she said.