TAMPA, Fla. — To rezone, or not to rezone? That is the question weighing on one community in New Tampa.
Pebble Creek Golf Course in New Tampa closed in July 2021, and what to do with the space has been a hot topic ever since, with those who live along the property feeling strongly about its future.
Those neighbors rallied inside a Hillsborough County planning commission meeting Monday evening. The meeting was a chance for them to weigh in on a developer's plan to turn the former golf course into residential lots.
It was a packed board room, with a crowd divided. Supporters of the plan wore blue shirts which read "Vote Yes." Opponents wore red shirts which read, "Save Pebble Creek."
Project supporters argue change at Pebble Creek Golf Course, now closed for nearly two years, is inevitable.
Carol Clauws, a 17-year Pebble Creek resident, said of the golf course property, "It is overgrown. It is rundown. The clubhouse looks like it's about to fall down. It's really an eyesore."
Clauws said the developers have listened to her concerns and those of other neighbors, and believes they present a best-case scenario.
"I would like to live near a $1 million home because I think that's what some of the homes will probably be going for. That's going to bring our property values up," Clauws said. "Bringing in this development with a thoughtful process, bringing us five community areas to share with residents and neighbors, it's a win-win for everybody."
However, project opponents point to years of disruptive construction, causing potential loss of wildlife and health hazards.
Leslie Green, a 30-year resident of Pebble Creek, has been spearheading the Save Pebble Creek Effort.
"The soil needs to be remediated. It is contaminated underground. We've been told that it's safe where it is as long as they do not dig it up," Green said. "But of course, to put homes on it has to be dug up. We fear the dig-up process and the cleaning up of the soil.
"How is my life going to change during that time? Am I going to have to stay inside for a year? Am I going to have to be worried about how that's going to affect my health?"
Green and others are hopeful the space will not be rezoned residential and could be turned into something like a public recreation space or park.
"If we keep it from being reasoned, then it's not as desirable to the developers," Green said. "We can bring the land hopefully down into fair market value again, where we have people, investors that will come in and look at using it for a use that would be more favorable to us."
Green said in terms of letters being sent to county commissioners, 74% of residents oppose the plan to rezone the land as residential.
Roughly two months from now, on July 17, Hillsborough County commissioners are set to decide whether the golf course will be rezoned into a residential space.