By LOIS KINDLE
More than 100 volunteer residents of Sun City Center will knock on doors Oct. 29 throughout the month of November to ask their neighbors to sign a petition aimed at stopping ClubLink’s golf course development plans.
The door-to-door canvassers are members of Save Sun City Center, an all-volunteer organization of concerned citizens, who began meeting April 1, after Canadian-based ClubLink’s March 23 presentation at Community Hall, in which its COO John Finlayson announced the company’s intention to convert three of its seven golf courses into future housing developments.
The purpose of the door-to-door canvass is to raise awareness among residents about ClubLink’s proposed rezoning of the Sandpiper Golf Course and the previously closed Caloosa Greens Course and to stop both from happening.
The closed North Lakes Course was always zoned residential, Anderson said, but Save Sun City Center will seek to stop any planned development there, as well.
ClubLink wants to build hundreds of homes and senior living facilities on these properties and, if completed, could eliminate a large portion of Sun City Center’s green space.
“We believe ClubLink’s plan for working with residential builders would horribly impact the current infrastructure and quality of life for all our residents,” said Ellie Anderson, Save Sun City Center president. “Its plan would destroy the character of our community, exacerbate our already over-crowded streets and diminish the services and opportunities we enjoy in Sun City Center.
“We want to protect what green space we have left,” she added. “Our roads, water and sewage systems, Fire Rescue and EMS services are already at or beyond capacity. When you take into account all the additional development going on around Sun City Center, there’s just no way this is sustainable.”
Save Sun City Center’s goal of making residents aware of what’s going on is especially important for the residents who’ve been away for the summer months.
“When we talk with people, we’re surprised at how many are unaware of the situation,” Anderson said. “They’re thankful for the information we’re providing and what we’re doing to stop this development.”
Anderson noted the 27-hole Sandpiper Golf Club, which is currently active and proposed to be closed, is one of the few affordable golf courses available for play in the community and southern Hillsborough County.
ClubLink closed Caloosa Greens and the Kings Point Executive courses in 2015 and Falcon Watch the following year. The North Lakes Course was closed in 2009 by WCI Communities.
ClubLink’s two premium courses, Club Renaissance in Sun City Center and Scepter Golf Club in Kings Point, will remain open.
“Many people retired here for the golf courses, whether to play them or live on them, and most don’t want any further development,” Anderson said. “These residents enjoy the views of open vistas and wildlife afforded them by their golf course properties.”
COURTESY PHOTO
Save Sun City Center volunteers who will be canvassing door to door, starting Oct. 29, will be wearing these highly recognizable T-shirts.
Representatives of Save Sun Center intend to present all of the signed petitions to Hillsborough County commissioners at an upcoming public hearing to be set once ClubLink files its application with the county. The board will ultimately have final say on whether or not ClubLink’s plans are approved.
“Through our petition, we will show overwhelming community support against rezoning, as well as our case documents pointing out the inconsistent and incompatible use of the golf courses for residential development,” Anderson said. “We’ve been in touch with various county zoning people, and as far as we know, ClubLink has not yet submitted any plans.”
Meanwhile, Anderson said her group is “staying vigilant” and gearing up for its upcoming petition drive.
“We are determined to keep this rezoning from happening,” she said. “It’s simply bad for the community and inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan for Unincorporated Hillsborough County and, specifically, the Livable Communities Element for the Greater Sun City Center area.”
The Greater Sun City Center Area’s Community Plan was developed by its residents with the assistance of Hillsborough County’s planning staff. It was published by the county in 2009 and adopted by the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners in 2010.
DEBBIE CANEEN PHOTO
Many residents of Sun City Center bought homes off golf courses either to play them or enjoy views like this one overlooking the North Lakes Course, one of three courses in the community on which ClubLink wants to build homes.
For more information on Save Sun City Center, visit SaveSCC.org or call Anderson at 312-282-7337.
If you would like to see ClubLink’s March 23 presentation, visit https://bit.ly/3gtLFg2/. When ClubLink decides to move forward, additional stories will be published in The Observer News, detailing the company’s plans and any potential ramifications should its rezoning request pass or fail.
Rick Johnson, media relations director for Save Sun City Center, contributed to this story.
