WCOM NEWS

2-29-04

Study targets Miramar's golf course

MIRAMAR--The City Commission wants the National Golf Foundation's opinion before it decides the future of Miramar's only golf course.

Commissioners recently agreed to spend $15,000 on a study to determine whether the defunct Eagle Woods Golf & Country Club, near Douglas Road and Miramar Parkway, could be financially viable.

The commission also would like to know whether there are grants available to keep the 183 acres as open space before it considers changing the site's land use to make way for 140 townhomes and 520,000 square feet of office space.

The golf course is $2.5 million in debt, according to Reese Stigliano, of Commercial Property Realty Advisors, which has tried to market the land as a golf course for the past two years. Whoever buys the property would have to spend about $1.5 million in upgrades, he said.

Although officials have stated in the past that the city could not afford to run the golf course, commissioners in September said they would like to explore the possibility of a joint venture with an entrepreneur.

"This is an issue of quality of life," Vice Mayor Fitzroy Salesman said at a recent meeting. "Not everything is written in dollars and cents."

In September, city staff recommended denial of the plan to develop the land, saying it would crowd schools and increase traffic.

Developer Eaglewood Partners Miramar LLC has agreed to decrease the number of homes and increase the amount of open space but refused to pay for a study by the golf foundation.

The course's greens are littered with weeds and its clubhouse tattered. About 16 residents who attended a recent community meeting said they were worried about what would happen were the land to remain vacant. Homeless people are roaming the area at night, they said.

(source) Sun Sentinel (Milton D. Carrero Galarza) 2-29-04