The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously approved the special area study presented at a Tuesday special meeting on the 4,000-acre Hickory Sink property.
The motion allows the property owner to move forward with a special area plan for proposed future development, and county staff also included 13 conditions that the future plans will need to incorporate.
The Lee family has owned the land for five generations, and Val Lee said the family has conservation as its primary aim. He said the family is pursuing a special area plan that, as shown in the backup documents, would place conservation easements over 85% of the land.
“I want to reemphasize that our desired outcome is conservation on this property,” Lee said.
However, most of the conversation at Tuesday’s meeting centered on UF’s plan to build a 36-hole golf course with adjoining facilities on 580 acres of the site.
Tyler Matthews serves as president of England-Thims & Miller, Inc., consultants for UF on the golf course development. He said UF will move forward immediately with its special area plan for the golf course—which would include a practice area, clubhouse facilities for men’s and women’s golf teams, possible facilities for a youth development program, maintenance facilities and about 30 guest cottages.
Meanwhile, the plan for the rest of the site will wait for conservation funding. UF and the Alachua Conservation Trust will attempt to secure legislative funding during the upcoming session that starts in January. Depending on what the Legislature approves, Matthews said they may look at financing the conservation easements through multiple sources.
Any special area plan will also need to be ratified by the BOCC before the normal development process begins—again requiring county approval. Neighboring owners will be notified as part of the development process, and the applicant will need to host community meetings.
Plenty of neighbors already know about possible development on the site. Many showed up on Tuesday to raise concerns or voice support.
Concerns ranged from congestion on nearby roads to extending a dead-end road in Haile Plantation, but environmental concerns came most often.
Stephen Hofstetter, director of the county’s Environmental Protection Department, presented the special area study and noted the valuable environmental character of the property—the reason the land was named one of the county’s strategic ecosystems that forced a longer development process.
Hofstetter said the land is inside a sensitive karst area, meaning water flows quickly from the surface to the Florida aquifer. The land contains sinkholes and caves, and Hofstetter said these features mean anything that happens on the surface has a greater chance of impacting the aquifer.
Hofstetter said golf courses tend to use high levels of water, pesticides and other chemicals that could impact the aquifer. County staff included four conditions that addressed water quality concerns.
Matthews also said that UF plans to address environmental concerns when developing and maintaining the land.
“I think it’s important to understand that UF sees this as an opportunity to lead the state in what golf can look like in modern development in the state of Florida,” Matthews said.
He said over the past couple of years UF considered other locations for a new golf facility, but nothing else worked in Alachua County.
Other golf courses that are struggling or closed sit within residential areas. Matthews said that constrains the creation of a championship-level facility. Some of the courses would still be too short without the added hoop of working around neighboring homes, he said.
He said UF and the planners will work with Alachua County on stewarding the land—from how it takes care of grass clippings to aging equipment, native plants and water use.
Hofstetter added that the county will require regular testing of the Florida aquifer in the area. While not finalized, tests could look for high levels of nutrients, pesticides and herbicides—concerns to neighbors who use wells.
“We’ll be working with staff and this commission on management principles, everything from how we handle energy to operational details, to make sure that we’re good stewards of the process,” Matthews said.
One request by the BOCC that landed in the motion was for UF and the Lee family to consider an agreement to allow the public to access the site to enjoy the unique, natural beauty.
Matthews and Lee also addressed concerns of adding an entry and exit point into Haile Plantation. Both said they had no intention of asking the county to extend and open SW 46th Boulevard for golf course or other development use.
Leave it as is!
NO GOLF COURSE!
Did UF consider buying Westend and Meadowbrook and property between? Some of the hilliest, most beautiful area in Alachua Co. Both golf courses now overgrown eye polution.
UF isn’t going to spend money on a golf course. They will not buy the two defunct ones.
The Lees are going to give UF a course
What are the cottages about?
$$$. No to a new course.
The University of Florida is a corrupt business entity, nothing more, nothing less.