Homes with a view

Houses on golf course may be closer to reality

The development of 152 houses on Tamarac’s Woodmont 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 to instead sit behind a half-dozen Woodmont homes that have had a golfcourse view.

Woodmont owner Mark Schmidt said it was the only spot to accommodate the 7,200-square-foot building, which will be 14 feet high.

Some residents said they were devastated. Patricia Wynn said she bought her home in Pines III because of the golf course and sunset view and now fears her home will plummet in value. “Our voices made no difference,” she said.

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 build 104 singlefamily homes, 200 apartments and 217 villas on a 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 Florida’s 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, which includes one- and two-story homes with prices starting at $350,000.

Plans were approved in 2014. It also calls for nine of the 18 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” and it “cannot be 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.