Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Andy Reid

Published June 22, 2014

       
George W. Bush was president, "Grey's Anatomy" debuted on TV and Hurricane Wilma knocked out power across South Florida.

That was 2005 and that's how long it has been since the Mizner Trail Golf Course near Boca Raton closed and triggered lingering uncertainty over what to do with the land.

Developers have pushed for building houses on the 130 acres of overgrown fairways and putting greens that wind through the Boca Del Mar neighborhood.

But a large contingent of nearby residents instead wants to protect the golf course views and open spaces they thought would remain forever.

On Thursday, revised plans to build 252 homes on the old golf course go back before the County Commission for a vote that has been nine years in the making.

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"It just seems like it goes on in perpetuity," Boca Del Mar resident Charles Lyday said about the years of back-and-forth over the land. He opposes development plans. "You would like to think there would be a solution."

Boca Del Mar stretches between Military Trail and Powerline Road, south of Palmetto Park Road.

In 2006, community concerns about sacrificing open spaces and golf course views for new homes convinced county commissioners to reject plans for 202 homes on the old golf course. Then in 2011, commissioners voted against a development proposal for 291 homes on the land.

The latest building plans proposed by Compson Mizner Trail Inc. call for allowing 252 homes. That is 36 fewer homes than when commissioners in March delayed a decision on building plans, in the hopes that developers and nearby residents would work out a compromise.

The proposed 252 homes would include 115 zero-lot-line houses, 45 townhomes and 92 condominiums or apartments.

The developers contend that the old Mizner Trail golf course went out of business thanks to competition from other courses and that there are no plans to re-open. They say their new homes would fit in with the surrounding neighborhoods and raise property values.

"The new development will remove the current uncertainty as to the future of the site," according to the building proposal.

But many nearby residents say allowing new homes would rob them of the golf course views and open spaces they paid for when they bought their homes.

They worry that new homes will bring more noise, traffic, lights and even crime to land that they contend was always intended to be used for recreation. If the land can't be a golf course, then they say it should become a park with hiking trails and open spaces.

Reducing the number of proposed homes by 36 doesn't solve the problem, said Peter Sachs, attorney for the Boca Del Mar Improvement Association homeowners group.

"We are trying to protect the open space that was promised to us," Sachs said.

But after years of stalemate over what to do with the old golf course, some Boca Del Mar residents now support the latest building plans as a way to clean up the property and avoid leaving an overgrown eyesore.

"Let's be done with the infighting, the weeds and wild animals," Boca Del Mar resident Joan Notes wrote to the County Commission, supporting development plans. "It is not the loudest voices you should listen to but what is best for the overall community and the future of the area."

With home building picking back up, development pressure is mounting to transform more Palm Beach County golf courses into new neighborhoods.

The County Commission last year approved plans to build 689 homes and an assisted-living facility on a closed golf course beside Century Village, north of Okeechobee Boulevard and west of West Palm Beach.

Boca Dunes Golf and Country Club and Boca Greens Country Club are the latest communities that could end up with new homes built on golf course land.

County officials have had preliminary talks with property representatives interested in building town homes on golf course property within the two communities.

"A lot of people probably did buy property based on the assumption that it was going to remain a golf course," County Mayor Priscilla Taylor said about growing interested in building on golf course land. "But the (golf) business has changed."