Many of them made clear just how much they detest a new proposal to build new single-family homes, townhomes, offices, light industrial space and a senior citizen living facility on the shuttered 250-acre golf course in their neighborhood.

An Orlando attorney representing the owner of the idled Indigo Lakes golf course at the meeting got no more than a sentence or two out of his mouth as he tried to share the history of the course when he was interrupted by a resident of the Daytona Beach neighborhood.

"Why don't we skip that B.S., sir?" the man blurted out. "You're eating into our hour for the meeting."

And so it went as attorney Chris Roper attempted to relay who had owned the 45-year-old course in the past, how much they paid and why the course closed in 2018. Every few minutes someone would loudly interrupt with a criticism or hostile question.

Orlando planning consultant Jim Hall was also heckled as he walked the group through plans for the 18-hole course. But Hall and Roper said they still plan to file their rezoning application with the city in a month or two.

The two said they will try to incorporate into their plans the comments and questions they heard inside the Holiday Inn off of LPGA Boulevard. But they and golf course owner Colin Jon aren't walking away from the newly unveiled development proposal.

Once city staff members review the proposal, it will be sent to the Planning Board, and then the City Commission for an initial hearing. Then state officials and the Volusia Growth Management Commission will review the proposed land use changes, and then the proposal will go back to city commissioners.

Another neighborhood meeting will also be required early in the process.

While all that happens, some residents of the 450-home Indigo Lakes neighborhood will strategize ways to block the plan. One man announced during the meeting that he has already identified a half dozen legal grounds to sue Jon, a Chinese-Canadian investor who is part of a group that bought Indigo Lakes Golf Club in 2013.

Jon, who was not at Tuesday night's meeting, has tried to develop the course a few times, but so far hasn't followed through. Every attempt he's made so far has received strong pushback from the neighborhood, and now the resistance is ratcheting up again.

The Indigo golf course owner's plan

The Indigo Lakes golf course is one of a handful of courses in Volusia County that have closed in recent years as golf's popularity has waned.

The Indigo Lakes course was built in 1976, and homes started to go up around the 18-hole course in the late 1970s.

The golf course sold for $5 million in 1994, and then sold again in 2006 for $3.6 million. In 2011 a bank acquired it through foreclosure, and two years later Jon bought it for $1.25 million.

In 2018 and 2019, Jon moved toward building homes and businesses on some of the golf course. A land use change the city approved in 2007 allows up to 475 new homes to be built on the golf course, but Jon wound up dropping his effort.

Indigo Lakes, which is just west of Williamson Boulevard near International Speedway Boulevard, currently has 431 single-family homes and 70 condominiums, for a total of 501 housing units.

The new proposal calls for adding 252 single-family homes; 188 townhomes; a 120-bed assisted living facility; 130,000 square feet of business space including light industrial uses; 100,000 square feet of office space; and 6,000 square feet of commercial space.

The latest plan proposes using the full 250-acre golf course and only leaving some green space to buffer current homeowners and ponds that would be needed for storm water drainage.

The proposal calls for filling the golf course land on the north end of the neighborhood with single-family homes and a clubhouse.

In the center of the neighborhood would be more single-family homes, townhomes, a community center and a small cluster of commercial, office and service space.

In the southeast corner of the neighborhood fronting Williamson Boulevard there would be office space, and more business space could be located just east of Interstate 95 in an area that's not directly adjacent to any existing homes.

In the southwest corner of the neighborhood, there could be more townhomes and an adult congregate living facility for senior citizens on Indigo Drive.

The development plan, which is still just conceptual, calls for keeping at least some existing trees on the golf course.

The intention is to amend the city's comprehensive plan and rezone the property to Planned Development – General.

The hope is to redevelop the property with a mixed-use project that will complement both the adjacent residential as well as the newer development occurring along the Interstate 95 corridor.

Asked if any specific businesses are lined up yet, Roper said "we're talking to prospective end users." He said it would probably take at least a year before anyone would see any new development work starting.

Venting worries
At Tuesday's meeting, people stood along the walls and spilled out into a hallway. There was no functioning microphone in the room, and people in the back had trouble hearing.

"You don't show the residents of this community any consideration when you only put 50 chairs out and they can't hear in the back," one man said.

Throughout the hour-long meeting, the questions from residents came one after another. No one shared their name. They just started talking.

As soon as Hall mentioned the word townhome, someone shouted "No! No! No to all of it!"

"This is going to be a disaster for all who live here," a woman said.

"So that's not going to devalue our homes?" someone asked.

"The owner has every vested interest in seeing property values increase," Roper said. "We're in this together."

Others said they're worried about a spike in traffic or insufficient water service. One woman said she sees nothing that benefits current residents.

"We can't leave it as it is," Roper said of the closed golf course. "We've got to work together."

One man asked if the golf course could be declared blighted and the city could buy it.

"I think the changes they're asking for are unacceptable," he said.

Some residents challenged whether there was even a legal right to build on the course. Roper said the founders of the Indigo Lakes golf course were careful not to encumber the property with restrictions for future development, which drew a few jeers from people who disagree.

Hall reminded the group that the meeting was called to get a conversation going with neighborhood residents and adjust the plan if needed.

"We're going to continue on with the process and try to come to some kind of compromise," Hall said.

"You're not listening to us," a man replied. "We don't want you."

"So you're a 'hell no,' " Roper responded.