An Alachua County special magistrate doubled the fine amount issued against Meadowbrook Golf Course to $1,000 per day and authorized the county to enter the property to fix three code issues.
Last week’s decision is the latest in a code enforcement timeline that stretches back to at least 2023. In September 2024, Alachua County issued a lien against the property and started additional fines, and the property owner began fixing the problems.
The property had a potential buyer, and a draft development was circulated in the community next to the golf course. But that sale fell through, according to residents.
Alachua County listed three code violations at a Sept. 4 meeting: nuisance overgrowth, hazardous materials and discharges. Because these are repeat violations, code enforcement officers said no time has been given for the owner to fix the problem.
Alachua County’s Office of Code Administration asked and received permission to enter the property and remediate the issues. The cost associated will be passed to the property owner.
A nearby resident showed pictures to the special magistrate of graffiti on the inside and outside of buildings on the property. He said the property isn’t appealing to any potential home buyers and is impacting the 277 homes in the neighborhood that intertwine with the golf course.
The course closed in 2021, following Hurricane Elsa, and Christopher Marcum, the owner, went through Alachua County for development approval of a two-story driving range to provide an additional source of income.
The project was approved with conditions, but never moved forward. Marcum told the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that the property, located in flood-prone areas, isn’t viable without additional streams of income.
After four years of essentially abandoning the property could the county condemn it and claim it under emminent domain? Why has Marcum been allowed to continue ownership of a property that is negatively affecting 277 other properties?
I wanna buy it and turn it into a community farm and safe place for kids to go camping/ school / team building trips.
Sounds like a plan to me Adri. At least your idea has something positive in it to benefit the community.
Watch what happens: if this golf course owner files Chapter 11, Alachua County will swoop in and buy it with your tax dollars. And code enforcement? They’re a joke. The magistrate slashes liens like it’s a clearance sale, so every savvy property owner knows exactly how to play this broken system—and they’re winning, while taxpayers lose.
Not a trick question…please explain furthe “…he magistrate slashes liens like it’s a clearance sale, so every savvy property owner knows exactly how to play this broken system—…” Elaborate- I’m curious.
The BOCC won’t be happy until more Apartments are built!!
An overgrown eyesore – for a long time now.
I feel badly for area residents.
Alachua County Gov’t. ineptitude(s).
It’s the residents fault. They voted against removing a row of pine trees that needed to go in order to build the driving range. As well as not allowing the golf course to use additional parking.
Please stop blaming the residents for all the golf course problems. The county stated the terms for reopening the golf course, not the residents. The owner decided to close the golf course and abandoned any maintenance of the property and buildings for years. Decaying, falling down buildings, fencing, and leftover chemicals are not caused by the homeowners. Trees blown over by storms on the owner’s property and falling onto our roads are the responsibility of the landowner, but the homeowners and the county have had to remove them.
The owner then proposed to build multi-level apartments along 98th in a minimal stretch and width of land, which would cause additional flooding to the homes below the apartments and on 39th Avenue. Thankfully, this did not happen. The need for additional apartments was questioned when a massive home/apartment development was planned across from the Meadowbrook on 39th Avenue.
The owner is being held accountable via the current laws of Alachua County. In the meantime, the homeowners are not the problem in this situation; they are the victims of abandoned property maintenance.
The county ultimately caused this property to become flood prone and to no longer be viable. The removal of the water shed areas around it on 39th led to the flooding. The property can’t be used for anything as it floods so much now that during storms the entire road is shut down for days. It was not like that prior to 10 years ago. This is on the county–they destroyed the economic viability of that land/area. You can’t fix the destruction that the county has allowed to happen by clear cutting trees for subdivisions, strip malls (Publix) and health centers (N. Fl). It will only get worse when N. FL hospital goes in. That is the low area and the only place for the water to go which means those people who live there will wind up with their homes flooding too just like those in Robin Lane.Pay him for what the county destroyed . He did have a viable business prior to the construction that clear cut out the watersheds. Those of us who have lived here for decades prior know that that area did not flood out prior to the clear-cutting/building done along 39th Ave. Just like the sinkholes that are opening up along Newberry Rd and in Newberry–development has consequences when it is not done with environmental thought. Most of those consequences are not good.
It is very apparent that most of the community is developer driven. There are very few roads that you can travel to go west of the city and with the new apartments being built in that area, the already ridiculous traffic is only going to get much worse. It seems the county doesn’t do much to mitigate the issue and traffic law enforcement is almost nonexistent.
Alachua County Public Works slipped in a pumping station to push stormwater across 39th Street and I-75, and you can bet it never went through the land development committee like it would for any ordinary citizen. If a homeowner so much as wants to add a shed, they get buried in red tape, hearings, and fees. But when the County wants something done, suddenly the rules don’t apply. One set of rules for the people, another for the government—that’s hypocrisy at its finest.
I grew up near here and this place never used to flood until the county/ state redeveloped that intersection at 39th to entice future development north of the golf course. Afterwards they had catastrophic flooding almost annually until it got the point there was no longer a net profit to be made. Interesting how that never seems to make it into the calculus with these fines the county is after… When the fines accumulate enough to foreclose on the property don’t be surprised if one of our fine county commissioners already has someone waiting in the wings to work the development deal that has failed to get off the ground for the current owner.
Turn it into a disc golf course!!!