By LOIS KINDLE
lekindle@aol.com
As reported recently in The Observer News and its affiliated editions, activity on the closed North Links Golf Course in Sun City Center has sparked community chatter that ClubLink may be positioning itself to work with a developer to build homes. Residents living along the shuttered course say they have seen surveying crews and soil testers on the property.
The speculation that “something could be up” drew a packed house April 22, when more than 600 residents turned out to hear Save Sun City Center (also known as Save SCC) provide an update. Adam Gormly, Hillsborough County’s director of development services, also spoke and took questions.
Hundreds of residents, many carrying signs of protests, gather to hear Ellie Anderson, Save SCC president, discuss the reasons so many in the community want to protect and preserve Sun City Center’s closed golf course properties with WFTS TV Tampa Bay 28 reporter, Keely McCormick.
The meeting drew the attention of WFTS-TV Tampa Bay 28 and prompted a visit by reporter Keely McCormick, who visited Sun City Center on May 4 to interview Save SCC president Ellie Anderson during a demonstration of more than 300 residents, lining about 100 yards of both sides of LaJolla Avenue along the closed course. Many carried signs with slogans like “Keep Us Green!” and “STOP THE SQUEEZE; WE ARE FULL” to show support for preserving Sun City Center’s closed golf course properties and protecting them from development.
North Lakes is one of five closed golf courses owned by ClubLink that are targeted for possible rezoning and development.
“The amazing support from our residents at these events told me two important things,” said Rick Johnson, vice president of Save SCC, who stepped in with Lorraine Mancuso to make the presentation during the informational meeting after Anderson became ill and could not attend. “Despite ClubLink’s silence during the last four years about what they plan to do, the vast majority of our residents want to preserve and protect our golf courses as recreational spaces only.
Our surveying shows that about 95 percent believe this way!
“These courses were always intended to be used in that manner, not for redevelopment,” Johnson added. “The hallmark of our community is its low-density design and sweeping vistas. Our residents are still highly energized, and they want to keep our community just the way it is. We don’t want any more homes or development.”
A bit of history
Save Sun City Center — 501(c) 3 grassroots organization of community residents — was founded in April 2022 to protect the legacy of Sun City Center, which was started in 1961 as Florida’s first 55+, master-planned active senior community. Developers promoted a lifestyle built around shared amenities and golf courses.
The courses were featured as the centerpiece of its 1,138 acre layout.
“They’re beautiful and serene – the lungs, storm water management and cooling systems of our community,” Anderson said. “They define the setting and surroundings of our entire area. If we lose them, they’re gone forever.
“No rezoning or building should be permitted, and we will fight to ensure our Sun City Center Community Plan and vision are upheld by the County Board of Commissioners should ClubLink file a development project application,” she continued. “We didn’t create this situation— ClubLink did—but we will be armed and ready with competent, substantial evidence to support our position. All we want to do is be good stewards of this great community and protect its legacy, green space and vibrant lifestyle.”
Rick Johnson, media relations director for Save Sun City Center, contributed to this story.
WFTS TV Tampa Bay 28 reporter Keely McCormick is seen here interviewing Save Sun City Center president Ellie Anderson on May 4 during a demonstration of more than 300 residents, lining both sides of LaJolla Avenue along the closed North Links Golf Course.
