Residents of Tallahassee’s affluent Killearn neighborhood are objecting to a possible sale of a portion of the local golf course. They don’t like the idea of what that land could become.
In mid-November Killearn Country Club owner Barton Tuck sent ballots to neighborhood residents who live along the land he plans to sell. The ballot asked the residents to waive their right to be the first to purchase the land. That would allow the club to sell it, no strings attached.
Tuck had announced the land would likely become multi-family apartments. But a number of Killearn homeowners have criticized that intention, saying it will bring the value of their property down. Director of Killearn Homeowners Association Brad Trotman says the proposal works against the community’s goals.
“This redevelopment plan will have a negative impact on those properties along the golf course," Trotman says. "To what extent we do not know because we have not been provided with a plan, stating what the conservation easements and the executor to those easements are going to be required to maintain that property as.”
Trotman says new apartment complexes could further complicate the neighborhood’s initiative to improve its infrastructure, which includes its storm-water and sewer systems.
Club owner Tuck says money would go towards improving the remainder of the course and club headquarters. But residents still believe the course can be redeveloped without sacrificing a part of it.