Collier County golf conversion fears linger with new study

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NAPLES, Fla. – Ten Collier County golf courses could be rezoned to make way for hundreds of homes, a new study revealed on Wednesday.

The possibility of golf courses closing follows a national trend that has many homeowners, like Ryan Allen, worried.

Allen’s family has lived in a home on the edge of a golf course located off Palm River Boulevard for more than 25 years. He would hate to see the golf course developed because he said it would add noise and traffic to his neighborhood.

But in Golden Gate, the owners of the Golden Gate Country Club applied to close a nearby golf course so that 700 single-family, multi-family and assisted living facilities can be built.

The Collier County study presented eight other golf courses that could also potentially face closure.

“A very small number of golf courses could potentially be eligible for development,” a county official said.

Collier County currently has more than 60 golf courses that take up nearly 14,000 acres of land. Ten of them, at a total of 1,500 acres, could be rezoned for commercial or residential purposes in the future. The majority of those golf courses are surrounded by homes.

Commissioner Georgia Hiller said golf course owners would have to apply to have their properties rezoned. Approval is not guaranteed, she said.

“I don’t want there to be an unnecessary concern out there in the community that all of a sudden there’s going to be all these golf course conversions because that’s not going to be the case,” Hiller said.

Still, Hiller said concerns about booming development are legitimate.

The ten golf courses listed in the study are:

  • County Club of Naples, 185 Burning Tree Dr 34105
  • Glades Golf & CC, 174 Teryl Rd 34112
  • Hibiscus Golf Club, 5375 Hibiscus Dr. 34113
  • Imperial Golf Club, 1808 Imperial Golf Course Blvd 34110
  • Lakewood CC, 4235 Lakewood Blvd 34112
  • Palm River CC (LaPlaya), 333 Palm River Blvd 34110
  • Quail Creek CC, 13300 Valewood Dr 34119
  • Quail Run Golf Club, 1 Forest Lakes Blvd 34105
  • Quality Inn & Suites Golf Resort, 4100 Golden Gate Pkwy 34116
  • Riviera Golf Club of Naples, 48 Marseille dr 34112

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