Old golf course may not be fit for new development

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection was expected to conduct what would be its final review of environmental concerns at the old Palm View golf course in Palmetto before a planned 142-unit housing development can proceed.

After conducting that review, DEP has ordered yet another round of testing.

“This will be the same soil testing that we have had them run in the past, but we are asking them to expand the areas they are testing so we can know the extent of the contamination,” said Shannon Herbon, DEP relations and legislative affairs. “The department is currently drafting a letter to the developer outlining our requests and time lines.”

Herbon said once the developer receives the letter, they have 60 days to start the site assessment and 270 days to submit a site assessment report to DEP.

It’s been almost two years since Lakeland-based Highland Homes petitioned Manatee County to have the 58 acres on both sides of 28th Avenue West rezoned from suburban agriculture to residential. A Highland Homes representative said the company would comply with all requests early in the process, but the company has since declined to return calls for comment. The golf course closed down in the summer of 2015 after more than a half century.

It’s those decades of chemical use associated with operating a golf course that has residents of the adjacent Deer Run residential community concerned. Those concerns grew when a 2014 county report surfaced outlining the previous owner ran a “sloppy operation” by having unmarked containers of chemicals and opened bags of fertilizers spilling onto the ground.

When the property was contracted for $1.5 million, pending the successful development, the county reported it did not require a developer to conduct extensive testing on sites that may be a concern. But the DEP does and it launched an investigation last summer when concerns about potential contamination went public.

DEP ordered the developer’s environmental team to conduct further testing over the course of this past year. In March, more intensive testing showed certain areas of the course contain a level of arsenic that exceeds residential requirements. While arsenic can appear naturally, higher levels of arsenic, “is a typical contaminate from use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers,” Herbon said.

While the March report stated that the sites testing higher than normal can be remedied, DEP is concerned about the number of sites. Of the 20 sites tested, 12 showed higher levels of arsenic that is acceptable for residential development.

Deer Run resident Yonilee Miller said the latest round of testing didn’t even take place near her neighborhood.

“This is a huge red flag for me,” Miller said.

This story was originally published May 2, 2017 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Old golf course may not be fit for new development."