Source: Palm Beach (Fla.) Post
Nancy Drew might have called it The Case of the Disappearing View - but it's not really much of a mystery.
It happens when people stop playing golf, and golf courses start struggling, and developers begin ogling all that rolling green.
In this story's latest chapter, builder D.R. Horton wants to buy the 70-acre Turtle Bay Golf Course and build roughly 650 townhomes there. Neighbors at Century Village - especially those whose homes abut the course - are reeling. The view is half the reason Harry Dubin said he bought his unit.
"I don't want to live with people next door," Dubin said. "I'm one of those whose condo faces the golf course - I don't want to look at a wall."
Representatives of D.R. Horton could not be reached Friday. Neither could representatives of Fairway LLC, which owns the course.
Marty Perry, D.R. Horton's attorney, said he has met with Century Village residents three times recently. Another meeting, on April 5, has been organized by people opposed to the development. Perry said he would like to sit in on that one as well.
"The only understanding I have is that it's not profitable as a golf course," Perry said, addressing the reason Fairway is selling.
Century Village does not own Turtle Bay, but residents have made it their own. Realtors advertising Century Village property online even tout the neighboring course as an amenity.
"That's not true," said Bob Marshall, president of the community's United Civic Association. "The golf course is not owned by Century Village and never has been."
Marshall said he's glad D.R. Horton began meeting with residents before buying the land.
"That's a far cry from going directly to the zoning office and giving people as little as possible," Marshall said. "Some people have decided they are against it before they ever heard what it is about. I'm in favor of listening, and once I have the data that I need I'll make up my mind."
Perry said D.R. Horton wants to hear Century Village residents out. In addition to the April 5 meeting, Perry said he is organizing an April 7 meeting.
"We don't want to go into this thing and have a war," Perry said.
Such disagreements have become almost common in the fight to keep golf courses green.
In Wellington, the village council recently approved a land-use change to allow a developer to build 90 townhomes on the driving range of the defunct Binks Forest Golf Course in exchange for renovating the course and clubhouse. As the vote grew near, opposing sides covered the region in petitions, and designed T-shirts and Web sites.
In Royal Palm Beach, the village council recently voted to buy the old Tradition Golf Club for $4.5 million. Council members said they want to put an after-school program, a veterans' center and an adult day care there. Residents who live around the course, even those who said they didn't play golf at Tradition even when it was open, hit the roof and demanded that the village at least hire a firm to research whether the Tradition Golf Club could sustain itself as a municipal golf course.
The fact that golf courses are closing is not much of a surprise. A study published last year by the National Golf Foundation found that the 10-mile radius surrounding Wellington is saturated with golf courses.
