Ellie’s Notes – 3/23/2024

Hello Fellow Sun City Center Neighbors and Friends,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at FunFest. Your enthusiasm for continuing to oppose development in our community was so encouraging.  A special thanks to our great volunteers at our table, engaging with everyone.

Can you believe it? Two years ago today, we received ClubLink’s devastating announcement of their plans to develop residential housing on the golf courses here in Sun City Center. The details are available via the SCC CA website.

Although some in our community believe this is a done deal, IT IS NOT! ClubLink does not have the required zoning permission to develop on Sandpiper or Caloosa Greens golf courses. The only SCC course they own in Sun City Center zoned for residential development is the North Course with a zoning designation of RSC-6, meaning single-family residential with conventional 6 units per acre. And this has been the case for a long time and is not a recent change. Confirmation of this via email from the Hillsborough County Development Services Office is attached.

And although ClubLink promised they would be back to provide an update and more definitive details, that has not happened in two years. We are left to wonder and worry about when we will learn of their true plans and what we can expect at that point.  Although they indicated they are our community partner, they certainly have not acted in good faith.

In the meantime, our organization committed to the protection of our golf courses and green spaces, remaining vigilant by monitoring activities and developments related to our golf courses. We watch all redevelopment efforts throughout Florida and beyond, absorbing the information in the public domain and news about ClubLink.

We also are attempting to remain ready for ClubLink’s first public actions to proceed in Sun City Center. For example, we monitor all zoning applications affecting the Sun City Center area via the Hillsborough County email notification system. We also scour the Internet for any pertinent developments, including changes, challenges or legislative decisions like the Live Local Act that could affect any related filings for permission to proceed with development.

Sun City Center, since its founding by Del Webb in 1960, was designed to be a self-contained senior golfing community with a significant focus on outdoor recreation. Indeed, golf courses and outdoor recreation are part of the DNA of our community!

And it all began with the development and opening of the North Lakes Course in 1964, designed by Ron Garl and created by Del Webb, and continued through the development of Club Renaissance in 2002, designed by Chip Powell and developer WCI. These courses are an integral part of the community design and ethos, and they should never be developed as additional housing!

To further illustrate the point, I’ve attached scans of brochures from Florida Design Communities (1998)Florida Design Communities Sun City Center Brochure 1998

and WCI (2000)

WCI Sun City Center Brochure 2000as the developers of Sun City Center prior to Minto’s closeout in 2019.

May the force be with us as we fight to prevail!

Ellie Anderson

312-282-7337