Applicant withdraws from West End property

JBrown Professional Group has formally withdrawn land use and rezoning applications for the West End Golf property on behalf of developer Tara Club.

“The applicant has formally requested that the Tara Club applications (CPA-05-20 and ZOM-05-20) be withdrawn,” Alachua County senior planner Jerry Brewington wrote in an emailed statement.

If approved, the application would have allowed developer Sayed Moukhtara to go ahead with a plan to build a 487-unit development on the 75-acre parcel located across from Tioga Town Center on Newberry Road.

After much protest by residents of the Villages of West End and adjacent developments, who paid premium prices to live along the green space, the future of the now defunct course managed by Peter Min is uncertain.

The property, which was once a popular night golf and popular golf tournament spot, remains overgrown, run down and listed for sale for $6.25 million.

In the withdrawal letter dated Wednesday, Jay Brown, president of JBrown Professional Group, asked that Alachua County Growth Management return “a significant portion” of the $10,800 application fee, saying it would be a used for a revised application “in the near future.”

“We are currently setting up another round of meetings with the surrounding neighbors to begin presentation of our latest plans,” Brown wrote. “We hope to be able to resubmit to Alachua County within the coming months.” 

Paul Hornby, a junior golf instructor and spokesperson for West End Community Alliance for Recreation and Education (WECARE)—which is a Florida nonprofit organization that is advocating for the property to remain a green space—said that JBrown Professional Group has reached out to him and requested a meeting with him and some local HOA members.

“They would like to roll out the next iteration, a revised development,” Hornby said.