Both Sides Making Case In Pebble Creek Fight

A new updated entrance is one of the upgrades GL Homes is touting in its efforts to court Pebble Creek residents.

Save or develop?

Over the next year, those are the questions to be answered when it comes to what to do with the shuttered Pebble Creek Golf Club golf course.

The debate is ongoing.

On Oct. 4, a Save Pebble Creek Rally was held at the Glory Days Grill on Bruce B. Downs, and co-organizer and Pebble Creek resident Leslie Green said she was pleased to draw a bigger crowd than expected — roughly 130 people.

The most important guest, however, may have been Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan, whose District 2 includes Pebble Creek and the rest of unincorporated New Tampa.

Hagan could play a key role in the decision whether or not to grant developers — currently GL Homes — the zoning they will need to build new homes on the 149 acres of what are now overgrown greens and fairways. 

If Hagan is reelected in November, he will vote “yes” or “no,” along with the other six county commissioners, likely sometime next year if GL Homes proceeds with its plans.

County commissioner Ken Hagan attended the Save Pebble Creek rally and spoke with constituents, including group leader s Jen Solano (left) and Leslie Green (right).

Hagan said he hasn’t made any decision yet, but Green said he talked with almost everyone who showed up to the rally and feels he is on the Save Pebble Creek side.

“I feel that he is 100 percent on our side,” said Green, who has lived on the golf course for 30 years and has run the Save Pebble Creek Facebook page since 2019. “I have a feeling that he’s sincere in what he’s saying to us, and he understands the situation. He will do what the community wants, so the community needs to be showing him what they want.”

What the entire community wants remains to be seen. Green is part of the smaller Pebble Creek Village Home Owners Association (PCV HOA), which represents 303 homes. PCV HOA president Jen Solano was the Save Pebble Creek rally co-organizer.

Another 1,050 homes are in the larger Pebble Creek HOA.

A week after the Save Pebble Creek rally, GL Homes held two meetings — one by zoom on Oct. 13, and an open house at the Hilton Garden Inn in Wesley Chapel on Oct. 15 — to make its case as it considers whether to enter into a deal with Bill Place, who owns the golf course, which he closed on July 31, 2021.

While GL Homes has issued surveys and held a number of smaller focus-group meetings with residents, both of its events last week were open to everyone. Most of the information also is available online at PebbleCreekFacts.com.

According to GL Homes, Pebble Creek’s land use is Res-4, meaning four homes per acre (nearly 600) can be built on the 149 acres. However, GL Homes says it only plans to build roughly 250 single-family one- and two-story homes, leaving 69 acres of open space.

Place says that is a compromise for those residents opposed to development because of the loss of green space.

Pebble Creek Golf Club owner Bill Place says that GL Homes would help ensure residents still had a view (above rendering) that compares favorably to the old golf course.

Some of that open space will consist of four passive parks, tennis courts and other amenities. according to Place. “I love what I’m seeing so far,” he says.

Place said GL Homes intends to convert 17 acres into lakes, including a fishing area. “They want the residents who had the golf course view to have nice water views,” he says.

Although it is unclear if a formal vote of residents will ever be taken, Place says he is feeling more support now that some of GL Homes’ plans have been laid out.

Green, however, says GL Homes is just attempting a “brainwashing” and the residents she has spoken to are unimpressed.

“They tell me there’s nothing there that would change their minds,” Green said. GL Homes, if it proceeds, would likely file plans with the county in early 2023, setting off a process that would take 6-9 months. Eventually, it will come before the County Commission, which would vote on the development.

Until then, the debate will go on.

Hagan said ultimately he will support whatever is determined to be best for Pebble Creek residents. He said, however, that he did tell rally-goers to buckle up.

“I told them if they oppose this, they need to be prepared for a long-term fight,” Hagan says. “This is going to take quite some time.”

Pebble Creek Golf Course Not Designated A ‘Brownfield’ Site

Pebble Creek Golf Club is on its final legs, according to owner Bill Place.

The plan to have the Pebble Creek Golf Club (PCGC) designated as a “brownfield” site has failed, saving the property value of many of the homes that surround the golf course.

Bill Place, whose Ace Golf Inc. owns the PCGC and has been trying to sell it for years now, said he will still go ahead with plans to decontaminate and sell the golf course to developers.

Place had been seeking the brownfield site designation for the golf course, which carries with it a state tax credit equal to roughly 75% of the cleanup costs.

A brownfield site is a property that is contaminated, thus hindering efforts to expand or redevelop it. In 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency created a tax-credit program to help clean such properties up, so it could be reinvested in, helping the local economy as well as the local environment. The EPA estimates there are more than 450,000 brownfield sites in the U.S.

However, the word “brownfield” carries with it a negative connotation, especially in regards to a “green” golf course, causing Pebble Creek residents to rally together to fight against the course receiving the designation. There were petitions signed, a meeting on Nov. 30, and there were public hearings on Dec. 9 Dec. 16, prior to the vote. 

The message from the residents was clear — the brownfield site designation wasn’t deserved, carried with it a stigma and that they wanted the golf course to remain a golf course.

While at least one Pebble Creek resident registered support to doing what was necessary to get the course cleaned up — “the cat is out of the bag,” said Pamela Jo Hatley — the overwhelming majority were opposed to using the brownfield site designation to do so.

Michael Jacobson, the president of the Pebble Creek Homeowners Association, said that the contamination was mostly concentrated around the tee boxes and greens, and that the brownfield designation would suggest that the entire 150 acres was contaminated, having as much as a $62-million impact on property values in Pebble Creek.

Jacobson was one of 14 speakers registered on Dec. 16 to voice their disapproval of the designation. 

Following 30 minutes of public comments, the county commissioners voted unanimously against the 150-acre property being declared a brownfield.

“I’ve represented North Hillsborough for a long time and, candidly, I do not believe I’ve ever seen a neighborhood more engaged and unified in opposition to an issue,” said County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who District 2 includes Pebble Creek. “This is evidenced by the over 300 emails, 150 letters and 450 residents who signed an online petition and — with the exception of (one) — 100 percent being in opposition to the brownfield designation request for the Pebble Creek Golf Course. I want to deny that request today.”

While admitting that the future of the PCGC was “uncertain,” Hagan cited a number of concerns. First, the loss of 30 jobs that would result if the designation was granted and not meeting the economic productivity threshold that is required. 

Also, the county has never before designated an active golf course as a brownfield site, and that all recent brownfield approvals have been zoned for their intended uses in advance of the brownfield request, which did not happen in this case. “Not only is this request putting the cart in front of the horse,” Hagan said, “but it would potentially be precedent setting.” 

Place was disappointed in the decision, but said that he understood. He had even offered to pull his request for the designation, but it was too late.

“I didn’t expect the pushback when I started this,” Place said afterwards. “I realized as we got into it that it is a poorly named program. It conjures up images of the superfund industrial sites (which are designated as polluted locations that require a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations). The reality is, brownfield is used across the country in a number of locations, including golf courses. But, I get it. I understand. If I lived there, and someone told me it was gonna be a brownfield, I’d be concerned, too.”

So what now? Place says he will pay for the testing, which will take place over the next few months.

DR Horton, one of the original interested buyers of the PCGC, had done preliminary testing two years ago and discovered contaminants on the golf course before withdrawing its interest. South Florida developer 13th Floor, however, remains interested.

Place said that after DR Horton did its “very preliminary” testing of the golf course, he paid $50,000 to a company that did more extensive testing. High levels of arsenic and dieldrin were discovered, from insecticide applications before he owned the property, Place says. He added that those chemicals were banned prior to 2000, and he bought the course in 2005.

“The company told me this is not unlike what they have seen on golf courses this age,” Place says. “It’s not as excessive as some they have seen, but yes, it’s contaminated beyond state levels and we’ll have to clean it up before anything else can be done with the property.”

Place estimates the potential cleanup could cost $1 million, though 13th Floor has told him it could cost as much as $2 million. Without the tax credit from the brownfield designation, which would have covered three-fourths of that cost, Place will have to foot the bill.

Place said while the remediation of the contamination begins, 13th Floor will concurrently start a rezoning effort. While it is likely to meet some resistance, 13th Floor has already held a number of meetings with the HOA as well as residents.

While the property could accommodate as many as 600 homes on it, 13th Floor has already agreed to build fewer than 300. Place says that number is now projected to be between 220-250.

Place also said 13th Floor has agreed to other concessions requested by residents as well.“I certainly expect there will be people opposed to this being anything but a golf course,” Place says. “But there’s also people that realize that if it’s a certainty that the golf course is going away, why don’t we try and get as much as we possibly can from the developers to make this as good a situation as we possibly can?”

There are only 20 golf club members among the residents in the 1,400 or so homes in Pebble Creek. Place says he spends $500,000 every year on labor and fertilizers. The 53-year-old course, which opened in 1967, still has its original irrigation system.

“We’ve just been band-aiding it and band-aiding it,” Place,says. “It would cost a half-a-million dollars to put a new one in. The golf course is not viable going forward. It’s just not paying the bills. We don’t see another away. You can only operate a losing operation for so long before you’re like, ‘Okay, why am I doing this?’”

Pebble Creek’s Karen Perez Is Running For Hillsborough School Board Dist. 6

The difference that a good learning environment can make to a child is a lesson Karen Perez says she learned when her family moved to Tampa from Brooklyn, NY, so she could attend a safer high school (King High, on N. 56th St. in Tampa).

As one of two candidates in the run-off for the Hillsborough County School Board District 6 county-wide race, the Pebble Creek resident, who has been endorsed by previous HCSB District 6 seat holder April Griffin, says that ensuring today’s students have that same opportunity to get a good education without distractions, such as school violence, is what she wants to achieve as a School Board member.

“I was able to go to high school here in Tampa and I was able to focus on my education and not have to worry about the crime. What is ironic is, what I experienced at 16 in New York, is now something that students nationwide are experiencing.”

What also has changed, according to Perez, is the nature of some problems, like bullying, that have been around for decades, but which have taken on new meaning in the Digital Age, where rumors and gossip can spread far and wide very quickly.

“Before, it was between you and the bully,” Perez says. “But now, because of social media, it’s cyberbullying.”

Perez adds that signs of the need for mental health support in schools include that fact that more and younger children are committing suicide, rather than dealing with the challenges that life presents to them.

“The mental health piece in these children’s lives is at a critical point,” she says. “We need to address this with our children.”

Perez has insight to issues related to mental health. She followed up her graduation from King High by earning her Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Master of Social Work (MSW) degrees from the University of South Florida and building her private Tampa practice, the Embracing Changes Center for Mental Wellness.

She also is a primary social worker at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.

Perez says her 17 years of experience as a mental health professional will bring a new and much-needed perspective to the School Board, which is responsible for ensuring the success and safety of more than 200,000 students in 250-plus schools in the eighth-largest school district in the U.S., while dealing with issues ranging from broken air conditioners to finding enough bus drivers.

“When you have an education board that has members on it with the same mindset, everybody’s looking through the same lens and everybody’s coming toward a problem with the same tools, everybody’s going to come up with the same conclusion,” Perez says. “When you have someone that’s thinking outside the box…you get a different viewpoint.”

Another way Perez, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the School Board in 2006, wants to bring diverse perspectives to the school district’s operations and possibly stretch resources, is by working with people and businesses who want to be involved in helping to educate the community’s children.

“There is so much collaboration we could be doing,” says Perez, who has lived in New Tampa for 18 years and has raised two daughters and a son, all of whom are now either working in or pursuing professions of their own.

After nearly two decades living in the local community, Perez has become known to her neighbors, like Ann Green, who says Perez is accessible and committed to supporting others in achieving their goals.

“Karen is a great listener,” Green says. “Her ears and heart are always turning to help people and when she says she’s willing to do something, she’ll do it no matter what.”

Opposing Perez in the General Election on Tuesday is Henry “Shake” Washington, a retired Hillsborough School District educator who touts his 42 years of experience with the school district.

Washington began his career with the district as an instructional assistant and came up through the system to work as a teacher, principal and area superintendent for Hillsborough County schools.

Among the positions Washington’s campaign promotes on its website (ShakeforSchoolBoard.com) are strong oversight and accountability of the School District’s finances and putting more emphasis on learning skills and course content in the classroom, instead of standardized test preparation. The District 6 at-large seat is currently held by April Griffin, who decided not to run for reelection. Griffin has endorsed Perez to succeed her.

Perez ran for State House in 2006, winning her primary with 62 percent of the vote before falling in the General election to Ed Homan.

 

Fore! Pebble Creek Golf Club Owner Says Listing Was A Mistake

Is the Pebble Creek Golf Club for sale? Maybe. Maybe not.

Like so many rumors, it started on the internet — that the Pebble Creek Golf Club (PCGC) was up for sale.

So we asked Bill Place, who has owned the club since 2005.

“It’s not up for sale,” he says.

But, according to land brokers Cushman & Wakefield, it is indeed up for sale, and is listed on the firm’s website.

The extensive listing touts the 12 existing lakes, homes in Pebble Creek that are selling “in the mid-$200,000s to upper-$300,000s,” an average household income within a three-mile radius of $106,179 and the 3,189,266 square feet of retail within a three-mile radius of the semi-private golf course.

Included is a marketing flyer, water and sewage map, a zoning site plan, Pebble Creek’s declaration of covenants and restrictions (dated Sept. 2, 1986) and a unit count calculation that says 840 apartment and townhome units are potentially feasible to replace the golf course.

Place said he never intended for Pebble Creek to be listed as for sale. He says Cushman & Wakefield were contacted by a builder looking for land, and the firm asked if he was interested.

He merely said he was.

“But, I never requested a listing,” Place says. “Obviously, they seem to be taking it a little further and I need to find out why they would be putting up a listing. I never signed a listing agreement.”

Place says he did call Cushman & Wakefield after he talked to us, and expected the listing to be removed. But as we went to press with this issue, it was still there.

Basically, Place says he isn’t planting a For Sale sign on the first tee and selling Pebble Creek Golf Club publicly.

“But yes, I am absolutely looking at all options,” he says.

And why wouldn’t he?

Business at PCGC continues to trend downward. Over the last year, Place says revenues at the club are down by a third, and profits are down by 50 percent. Some of that he attributes to the construction on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., but admits it is an industry-wide slump.

“Is Pebble Creek doing well? No, it’s not doing great at this point,” Place says. “We all need more people to play golf. It seems like the millennials just don’t like to golf as much.”

Membership at PCGC has remained stagnant. Place says despite being surrounded by 1,100 homes, the golf club only has 20 members that are actually Pebble Creek residents.

“That’s not a lot of support,” he says.

PCGC is located at 10550 Regents Park Dr., and boasts 6,436 yards of play from the blue tees. it was designed by Bill Amick and built in 1967.

Place bought the course in 2005, and helped revive it. But, golf courses may be a dying breed, and Place says New Tampa — and all of Florida — is oversaturated with them. Pebble Creek has to compete with private country clubs like Hunter’s Green and Tampa Palms, as well as semi-private Heritage Isles, which are all a short drive away.

That leaves a lot of land — in Pebble Creek’s case, 149 acres worth of it — that potentially has more value to him in the hands of developers. Place is well aware that a few miles north in Wesley Chapel, where it took almost two years of public hearings and government meetings, struggling Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club is now being razed by its owners to make room for 400 homes.

“Even if I assumed the best case and some builder wanted to pay for it, with all the rezoning and public hearings and battles, it may not even be possible here,” Place says. “It certainly was for Quail Hollow.”

Place and wife Su Lee own the company, Ace Golf, that owns Pebble Creek Golf Club, and three other golf courses, along with two driving ranges in Brandon and Riverview.

Two years ago, Ace Golf bought Plantation Palms Golf Club in Land O’Lakes, which had been closed for two years. Ace Golf also owns the Wentworth and Crescent Oaks golf clubs in Tarpon Springs.

He says he has had numerous offers to sell Pebble Creek Golf Club over the years, but nothing concrete, and that’s where it stands now.

But, he knows the rumor is out there. His hope is that it doesn’t hurt business, including at the popular Mulligans Irish Pub inside PCGC, and that the golf club itself can rebound.

“It’s just crazy that we’ve had people walk in and say ‘When are you closing?,’” Place says. “We may never close.”