Though the Pebble Creek Golf Membership has been closed for a number of years, members of the group known as Save Pebble Creek, organized by long-time Pebble Creek resident Leslie Inexperienced, have been doing every thing they might to have the golf membership reopen, moderately than turn into single-family houses.
Yesterday, the group and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) received a major victory of their efforts to forestall golf course proprietor Invoice Place and his Ace Golf from rezoning the 149-acre property and promoting it to GL Properties, which was planning to construct 250 single-family houses on the golf course website.
In July of 2023, the try to rezone the golf course property was denied 5-2 by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), after Comm. Hagan mentioned he had acquired 1,800 letters from residents of the neighborhood, the overwhelming majority of which had been in opposition to the rezoning.
However, in October of final yr, the house builder appealed the county fee’s denial of the rezoning request to Hillsborough County Circuit Decide Paul Huey and, on June 24, 2024, Decide Huey “quashed” the BOCC’s denial of the rezoning petition which suggests, in authorized phrases, “to put aside or void.” Decide Huey’s ruling on the developer’s attraction was that, “The court docket can’t discover that the Board of County Commissioners relied on competent, substantial proof when it denied GL Properties’ proposal.”
The county appealed Decide Huey’s determination to the Second District of the District Courtroom of Enchantment of Florida, which overturned that call and quashed the decrease court docket’s order that might have allowed the rezoning.
Commissioner Hagan mentioned of yesterday’s ruling, “I’m very happy to report that the Second District Courtroom of Enchantment agreed with the County’s rezoning denial and overturned the Circuit Courtroom’s determination. I wish to thanks for your help and vigilance all through this troublesome ordeal. We’d not have received with out you!” He additionally beforehand mentioned that the county would think about shopping for the golf course “if the worth had been proper.”
Inexperienced echoed Hagan’s sentiments concerning the newest determination: “Due to the rallying of the neighborhood and to our Commissioner Ken Hagan’s efforts, we’ve completed our purpose of no rezoning that may maintain the golf course land round which our total neighborhood relies protected against growth. I hope that we are able to now work with the landowner to discover a extra mutually agreeable resolution. Finally, we might want to have one other golf course operator step in. Commissioner Hagan had talked about in a Townhall assembly that the county would think about shopping for it for a municipal golf course. This might meet one other purpose of ours, which is to keep away from having the toxins that lie beneath the bottom dug up for remediation. Now, the land can be utilized for its meant function. I personally look ahead to the subsequent step.”
Place mentioned that he would haven’t any touch upon the newest ruling “till GL Properties opinions its choices early subsequent week.”
We additionally had not but acquired remark from both of the owners associations in Pebble Creek.
