Our Forest Hills.Info   

1954 view               A Tampa, Florida community              2007 view

(Please note that this website is not affiliated with and does not represent the Forest Hills Neighborhood

 Association. For information relating to the FHNA, please visit http://www.fhna-online.org/index.htm)

Residents Fight City Plan to Sell Lots Next to Golf Course

Officials say they may be too late

by Bill Warren (Tampa Tribune, 2/1/79)

The Golfland Civic Association is gearing up to fight City Hall in hopes of preventing the city of Tampa from "eroding" the Babe Zaharias Golf Course by selling off fringe portions of the aging course, leaving it open to possible residential development.

Association representatives are speaking out against the city's decision to sell 16 vacant lots adjacent to the golf course because they feel the course would suffer "unredeemable (esthetic) damage" by the action.

But they may be too late to stop the sale because a city official said Wednesday the city already has begun the selling process.

The lots are adjacent to the eighth hole on North Oregon Circle and across the street from the golf course clubhouse on Country Club Drive. They have been designated "surplus property" by the city land office.

The association doesn't agree that the property for sale no longer serves a viable purpose for the city-owned course.

"We don't want any of the lots sold because it would ruin the aesthetic value of the golf course," said association treasurer Fred Schippnick.

The lots, especially those along the eight hole, are highly visible from the golf course and Schippnick feels the development of the residentially zoned property would hurt the value of the course, which winds throughout the Forest Hills area.

"Nobody wants to look at clothes hanging out to dry when they tee off," Schippnick said.

"It is an erosion, in my opinion. It just takes the whole beauty away from the course," he said.

The land on Country Club Drive surrounding Lake Eckles also doubles as an extra parking area when the club hosts golf tournaments, Schippnick said. 

"They could turn that into another parking lot instead of selling it off," he said.

Representatives from the 200-member civic association have already argued their case to the Tampa Sports Authority but were referred to Mayor Bill Poe, who has a principal voice on the sale of city-owned land.

Schippnick has been gathering signatures for petitions to present to the mayor when they meet Feb. 7 at City Hall. With only part of the petitions in -- more than a dozen association members are gathering the signatures -- nearly 400 people have taken a stand against the land sale.

The property for sale surrounding the 55-year old golf course was purchased by the city when the course was bought in 1971, residents said, and was intended to serve as a buffer from infringing development when the course reopened in 1974.

The civic association played a key role in lobbying for city ownership and the reopening of the facility, Schippnick said.

According to Marshall Tyson, city land agent, all the property owned by the city has been under review to determine whether it could ever be developed for public use.

Until this move by the city, none of the golf course property bought by the city in 1974 has been sold.

Amidst the 10 lots along the eighth hole are two homes that were built on property bought from private owners. These homes already abut the golf course and one is less than 30 yards from the green on the eighth hole.

Former city Director of Administration Dennis Ross recently built the other home in the Oregon Circle strip owned by the city. Ross' house is less than 20 yards from Corner Lake, which golfers on the eighth hole must hit across to reach the green.

Ross built the home to comply with the city charter, which requires city department heads to live within the city's corporate limits. However, before he could move into his new home Ross was hired away from the city ranks by Gov. Bob Graham. Now the home is for sale since Ross was forced to move to Tallahassee.

The surplus land, Tyson said, has been sold or is being sold by the city to increase revenues.

"We have done a review of that whole area and the land is just not needed," he said.

The lots vary in size from 70 to 75 foot frontage with depths of 120 to 129 feet. Some bids have been taken on the property but will not be opened until Feb. 14, Tyson said.