proposed\u00a0controversial\u00a0Tara\u00a0housing and\u00a0commercial\u00a0developments<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe Tomoka Hills Golf Course is part of a larger development by Bill Shively in Alachua. Shively is executive\u00a0chairman\u00a0of Tower Hill Insurance, which is currently building its corporate headquarters just north of I-75 off exit 399.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The golf course surrounds the corporate headquarters and is being built by Tomoka Hills Farms Inc., which is owned by Shively.\u00a0The conditions for the golf course originally gave private use to Tower Hill Insurance employees, their affiliates and guests, and anyone with a special exception permit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Craig Brashier, NV5\u2019s lead engineer for the project, said on Wednesday that\u00a0the proposed amendment only changes who can use the course.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u00a0said the\u00a0condition\u00a0that detailed ownership\u00a0caused\u00a0heartburn\u00a0at the\u00a0state\u00a0level\u00a0over\u00a0misconceptions\u00a0that an insurance company was building a golf course.\u00a0He added that\u00a0the\u00a0original site plan was approved,\u00a0assuming\u00a0golf course patrons would\u00a0use\u00a0the insurance office\u2019s parking\u00a0space.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brashier said the amended condition aims to clarify that Tomoka Hills is building,\u00a0owning\u00a0and\u00a0operating\u00a0the course, not Tower Hill\u00a0Insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u00a0states\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0golf\u00a0course is for the private use of Tomoka Hills Property Owners Association (POA)\u00a0members\u00a0and their guests.\u00a0It also requires\u00a0POA members\u00a0to\u00a0have approved site plans\u00a0consistent with\u00a0Alachua\u2019s\u00a0Land Development Regulations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following the neighborhood meeting,\u00a0Brashier said\u00a0staff\u00a0will\u00a0review\u00a0the application before\u00a0putting it back before\u00a0the Planning and\u00a0Zoning\u00a0Board\u00a0as\u00a0early\u00a0as\u00a0March.\u00a0Crews\u00a0expect\u00a0to break\u00a0ground\u00a0in the middle of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stacie Greco, Alachua County\u2019s water conservation coordinator,\u00a0attended\u00a0the\u00a0neighborhood\u00a0meeting. She also\u00a0represented\u00a0the county at a regular commission meeting in Alachua in June 2025 with concerns about the Tomoka Hills\u00a0Golf\u00a0Course location and the quantity of water use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Greco, the property\u2019s\u00a0two-acre pond and regular irrigation is expected to use\u00a0250,000 gallons\u00a0of water every day\u2014more\u00a0than Meadowbrook Golf Course and as much as the entire city of Alachua.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tomoka\u00a0Hills received\u00a0a permit from\u00a0the Suwannee\u00a0River Water Management District, but\u00a0Greco\u00a0said\u00a0the\u00a0karst\u00a0geology\u00a0of the area\u00a0still\u00a0causes\u00a0concerns about sinkholes\u00a0and\u00a0that fertilizer will\u00a0go down\u00a0into the Floridan\u00a0Aquifer\u00a0and wells.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brashier said the\u00a0owners\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0have a pond\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0any smaller, like the county recommends,\u00a0in order to\u00a0irrigate\u00a0the course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Resident Tamara Robbins asked for clarification about the relationship between Tomoka Hills and Tower Hill Insurance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said\u00a0if the state is concerned about the insurance company misspending\u00a0money\u00a0and raising premiums without\u00a0knowing\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also\u00a0building a\u00a0golf\u00a0course, the executives\u00a0should have to pay for\u00a0access\u00a0like everyone\u00a0else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Robbins also\u00a0asked\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0paying for the golf course and\u00a0if\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0going to recoup their\u00a0money\u00a0through housing\u00a0on the property.\u00a0Brashier\u00a0said\u00a0the owners\u00a0of Tomoka Hills\u00a0are\u00a0paying\u00a0to build and\u00a0operate\u00a0the course. Where they get the funding, he\u00a0said,\u00a0is\u00a0private.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Resident Soorya Lindberg said she felt the neighborhood meeting was premature without an official definition of who constitutes the POA, which could\u00a0fluctuate\u00a0depending on what housing is built.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brashier said there are plans to\u00a0develop around\u00a0the golf course, including\u00a0other mixed-use, nonresidential and some\u00a0high-density\u00a0residential\u00a0zoning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although the Planning and Zoning Board approved the site plan 3-0, they also shared concerns about whether the size of the development belonged on the periphery of Alachua.<\/p>\n
Robbins agreed with Lindberg and said the plan seemed like a slippery slope for\u00a0future\u00a0development.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to become\u00a0a public\u00a0golf\u00a0course,\u00a0and\u00a0it\u2019s going to result in a whole different level of impact\u00a0to\u00a0this community,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cThat would be naive to believe that it\u2019s going to remain the same as it is right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around a dozen\u00a0Alachua County citizens\u00a0attended a neighborhood workshop at\u00a0the NV5\u00a0engineering firm\u2019s office\u00a0on Wednesday to\u00a0learn about\u00a0an amendment to\u00a0the\u00a0private\u00a0Tomoka Hills\u00a0Golf\u00a0Course\u00a0coming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-400365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}