Power lines may hurt sales, golf club says

By STACEY EIDSON

seidson@bradenton.com

MANATEE --

About six months ago, Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch and The Concession Golf Club stood together in opposition to Florida Power & Light's preferred route for the Bobwhite-Manatee Transmission Line.

But late last year, SMR compromised with FPL to help establish the suggested "consensus corridor" for the future location of the the 230-kilovolt transmission line in East Manatee and Sarasota County.

That agreement left The Concession and SMR on opposite sides of the dispute.

During a hearing Thursday before Administrative Law Judge Bram Canter, it was up to developer Kevin Daves of The Concession to prove the consensus corridor would be detrimental to the residential community and golf course in East Manatee.

"It obviously wouldn't be positive," Daves said of the possible 85- to 100-foot-tall power lines that are proposed to run adjacent to The Concession's entrance along Bourneside Boulevard. "There is nothing positive about it."

Several years ago, Daves said, he approached SMR about the property in East Manatee because there were about 520 acres available in a rural area surrounded by wetlands and beautiful live oaks.

"I identified there was a need for a residential development on a high-end golf course and I sought out land," Daves said, adding he met with former SMR president John Clarke about the property.

At the time, there was only one access road to the site from State Road 70, so Daves negotiated with SMR to build an expensive entrance off University Parkway.

The Concession spent about $3.5 million developing the gateway to the planned 255-home community and 18-hole golf course, Daves said.

"It gave us the opportunity to create something very special," he said.

If the transmission lines are built along Bourneside Boulevard, Daves told the judge, he fears it would hurt the future sales and marketability of the golf community.

A lot is at risk for The Concession, Daves said.

"We were fortunate enough in 2006 to be named 'The Best New Golf Course of 2006' by Golf Digest," Daves said, adding that The Concession was recently ranked in the top five of all golf courses in Florida.

But Doug Hall, attorney for SMR, questioned whether the proposal to build the transmission line adjacent to The Concession would really hurt the golf community.

"Is it correct that no buyers or potential buyers have made complaints about the proposed transmission line?" Hall asked.

Daves said that was correct, but he didn't believe that clearly showed people weren't concerned about the power lines.

"Sometimes they don't come out and tell you," he said of potential buyers. "They just don't come."

In fact, Daves said, he has become the majority owner of The Concession after buying much of the property in the development that has not sold.

"I made the determination to become a majority owner because I felt obligated to the people who bought there," Daves said.

In no way was becoming the majority owner of The Concession a sure thing because there is a big unknown as to the impact the power lines may have on the property, Daves said.

"I have to tell you, I was at the public hearing here last night and I was sympathetic with almost everybody who stood up and had concerns," he said. "Having power lines go across your back door or front door or anywhere next to your property, it is devastating emotionally, as well as possibly financially."

Stacey Eidson, Herald reporter, can be reached at 708-7908.