Dick Brown, Vice President of The Pines at Woodmont III writes about the pending land change application to turn a Woodmont Country Club golf course in Tamarac into single-family homes. What was once the Pines Golf Course, developers are hoping to build over 150 homes and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.
By: Dick Brown
The Woodmont Property Association WPOA, met on April 22nd. We know that there is a covenant. Covenant 81-6804 is real and true. It states that the lands are to be used for golf courses and country club only, which includes club house, pro shop, locker rooms, swimming pools, cabanas, liquor, beer and wine facilities, dining facilities, parking, tennis courts, putting greens, golf driving ranges and all the incidental uses thereto.
A land change? The chutzpah! The unmitigated gall!
There should never have been such a request, not with the covenant that exists.
While we agree that something has to be done, this is not it. We really don’t care if Schmidt makes money. There’s nothing in the plans to assure that this will be successful. The Commission should not think for a second that the community is with them.” – Dick Brown
It is the city’s position that no such covenant exists. It was emphatically stated that according to city attorneys, that even if it did, it would have had to been renewed every 30 years.
We have seen copies of the covenant. We were informed that there are two court actions pending at this time to prove the covenant. We would have thought the city would have tried to enforce the covenant, rather then force the citizens to do so.
Vice Mayor Harry Dressler stated that because there is no covenant he’s proposing a new covenant to protect the 27 holes of golf for 99 years. However, with a dismissive wave of his hand, his answer was that the covenant hadn’t been decided yet.
Just who are they siding with?
Dressler was asked what would cause him to think that the owners of Woodmont Country Club could possibly run 27 holes successfully when they couldn’t make 36 holes successful? Then the second part of the question was, what is to stop them from doing the same thing to the Cypress Course that they did to the Pines? Prove that they can’t make the 27 holes profitable and again cause it to fall into ruin. Dressler answered that they would have to put safe guards in place to assure it being maintained.
When the Vice Mayor was asked about 82nd Street, he was a little indignant with his reply, “82nd Street? What’s 82nd Street?”
The owners of the property have stated that they can’t run the courses and the clubs profitably. They’ve allowed the Pines Course to fall into ruin. They are doing less than minimum watering and no care, other than mowing when forced to, showing the community that they can’t possibly run it as a business. Then with no rain, it all turned brown. However, with a good rain, Mother Nature proved that it would all turn green and lush, demonstrating that all that it needed was some TLC.
However in typical poppycock fashion, we are being told, that if, with a land change that allows them to build homes on our once beautiful greens, they will be able to run it as a successful 27 hole course. However experts agree that the planned new course is a bad design and can’t possibly be successful. Do we believe that these same people, that have proven themselves to be incapable of running this business can now somehow make it successful? Balderdash.
The Vice Mayor says doing nothing is not an option. The commission would rather have 27 holes than have nothing. Looks like they are trying to preserve the Cypress at the expense of the Pines. What they are not taking into consideration is that once the land use is changed, they are next.
The one thing that could be agreed upon was that no one trusts Woodmont Country Club owner Mark Schmidt to do whatever he agrees or does not agree to do.
This is our neighborhood. We don’t want the traffic, the mess, the blasting or the large construction equipment for the next several years.
The report from the planning Board is that the schools in our area now are under capacity so to rectify this, they’ve allowed two charter schools to open. Guess that goes under the title of “what were they thinking?”
The Mayor and all the Commissioners are for a land use change and building on the Pines Course, which they now refer to as a defunct fallow Course. The only suggestions they want to hear are those that concur with their new development plan.
While we agree that something has to be done, this is not it. We really don’t care if Schmidt makes money. There’s nothing in the plans to assure that this will be successful. The Commission should not think for a second that the community is with them.
Vice Mayor Dressler informed us that at a last hour meeting with the builder’s attorney, he asked about a performance bond and was told that there would be no performance bond, but the attorney recanted when he was told that without it, Dressler could not vote yes to the land change and building. He agreed to the performance bond before Dressler went back into the meeting just before 1:00 in the morning. He then voted yes, disappointing the majority of home owners who were adamantly against it.
Now a little fiction. Some time in the future:
Man living on the now defunct fallow Cypress Golf Course.
They closed the Pines Golf Course and I didn’t protest.
They denied the Perpetual Covenant that was in effect, stating that it didn’t exist and I didn’t protest.
Then they were granted a land use change and I didn’t protest.
Next came the building, the dirt, the dust, the grime, blasting, heavy equipment moving in and out, water being rerouted
…and I didn’t protest.
Now they’ve closed the Cypress Course, and are denying that our new 99 year covenant exists.
There will be no more green space in Tamarac. Why won’t the people in the Pines speak up for me? More photos of Woodmont Pines Course at Flickr.com