Sunday, July 20, 2008

URGENT GOLF CLUB MESSAGE

It is IMPORTANT that ALL residents ATTEND this meeting. Call your neighbors & friends today.

Wednesday, July 23rd at 9 a.m.

City Hall in Council Chambers


Ordinance 87-08

The owners/developers, Florida Gulf Ventures, application to amend the future Land Use of the Golf Club from Parks and Recreation to Mixed Use will be heard by the Planning & Zoning Commission this Wednesday, July 23rd at 9 a.m. The commission will vote to recommend denial or approval of the Land Use change at this meeting. It is urgent we have a large number from the community in attendance

I know this will be a very emotional time for everyone. Please remember to be respectful of all speakers and refrain from outbursts and/or applause.

Plan to carpool and wear your Save Our Recreation shirts or something Green.


For those of you out of town, you may view the meeting LIVE Wednesday at 9 a.m. EST. Go to www.capecoral.net , click on the "quick links" tab and select Cape Tv live from the drop down menu.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to save the golf course.

Mary

Golf Club site gets ‘mixed use’ proposal

By DREW WINCHESTER CAPE CORAL BREEZE
dwinchester@breezenewspapers.com

The question of what to do with the old Cape Coral Golf Club will come before the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday, as officials are expected to decide whether to approve the request of the club’s current owner to turn the club into a mixed use property.

The proposed plan from developer Florida Gulf Ventures, calls for 800 residential units, 325,000 square feet of retail space, and 100,000 square feet of mixed use office space.

P&Z Commissioner Gene Wolfe said the proposed plan has a “beautiful layout,” but density is likely to be a concern.

He added that he does not think the property can continue as a golf course, as area courses have been losing money. But he does think the property is ripe for development, whatever it may turn out to be.

“I say you can’t let it sit idle,” Wolfe said. “The ideal thing would be to have it where you could have everything in there for a convention center. But, where does the money come from? I’ll fight anything that uses city money.”

Save our Recreation, a citizen’s group that wants the property to remain a golf course, will plead its case to the commission on Wednesday.

Former Cape mayor and SOR consultant Joe Mazurkiewicz said re-opening the course would protect surrounding club neighbors and honor the city’s history.

He called the course’s current state a “mess,” and said it was all part of the current owner’s strategy to sell the property for development.

“We understand, as a golf course with the current amenities, there is no way to make it financially feasible,” Mazurkiewicz said, adding that it would be in the best interest of the private sector to develop he course for public use.

Whether the commission as a whole votes to block the developer’s plans remains to be seen, but city officials already are planning a recommendation to deny the project’s progression forward.

Bill Nolan, a consultant for developer Florida Gulf Ventures, declined to comment on Friday.

For Joe Mazurkiewicz, who played the course back in the 1960s, re-opening the course for future generations is a no-brainer.

“If you can’t make a golf course work in the middle of 50,000 people with disposable income in Florida, you’re not doing something right,” he said.

The Planning and Zoning commission will meet at 9 a.m., Wednesday, July 23, in city council chambers.

City planner Wyatt Daltry did not return a phone call seeking comment on the city’s proposed recommendation.