Photo: Google Earth, Tampa Bay Newspapers
“Landings referendum
Clearwater voters Nov. 3 soundly rejected a bid to transform the Landings Golf Course into a light industrial complex.
Just over 61% of voters (35,464) voted no on a referendum question on whether the city could lease approximately 58 acres of city-owned property across the street from the Clearwater Airpark to Harrod Properties.
The owners of the course currently lease the property from the city for $1,000 a month. City code states that voters must approve the sale of any city-owned property identified as recreation/open space on the comprehensive land use plan…
City economic development officials say redeveloping the underused golf course into an industrial park would’ve brought major financial benefits, including generating $9.735 million for the city during its first 10 years and also creating 3,281 jobs with an average salary of about $47,000.
Council member Kathleen Beckman and many neighbors of the project led the charge against it, claiming it wasn’t compatible with the area and expressed concerns about traffic and the environmental impact of eliminating the green space…
‘Once these 77 acres are gone and they’re not green anymore, they’re gone,’ Beckman said in June.”
— Chris George, Tampa Bay Newspapers
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