RIVIERA BEACH, Fla.— Riviera Beach’s par 62 Lone Pine Golf Club is one step closer to ending its 40-year reign as the inexpensive alternative for duffers and beginners alike — as well as a quiet vista for nearby homeowners.
Ignoring its own Planning and Zoning Board’s recommendation, Riviera Beach’s City Council voted 3-2 to amend its comprehensive plan to rezone the golf course from recreational use to single-family residence in a sometimes volatile meeting Wednesday night.
Still, residents of 354 homes in Lone Pine Estates hold out hope that the fairways, greens and sand traps won’t turn into living rooms, kitchens and swimming pools on the nearly 64 acres.
The next step, according to City Councilman Douglas Lawson, is for a review by the state before the matter comes back to the City Council for a second reading and a final vote. He said that should be in about two months when the future of the golf course — long threatened to be closed by its sibling owners — will be decided.
Council members Lawson, Tradwick McCoy and Julia Botel voted for the zoning change. Shirley Lanier and KaShamba Miller-Anderson voted no.
Residents voice displeasure with vote
Riviera Beach isn’t the only municipality to convert its golf course into a development. Boca Raton, Florida, sold its beloved course for $66 million, shuttering it last year. But the city then took over a private course to replace it.
About 60 Lone Pine Estates residents attended the Riviera Beach council’s meeting, voicing their outrage that they had been led to believe some council members would be a bulwark against the development of 124 single-family homes and 162 townhomes.
On hand at the meeting was at least one of the owners of Lone Pine, as well as representatives for the builder, D.R. Horton.
“We are the red-headed stepchildren of Riviera Beach. I don’t even know why we are in Riviera Beach, because we are forgotten over here,” said Rochelle Baker Hughes, who lives off the 17th hole and is secretary of the homeowners association.
The HOA’s lawyer, Steve Daniels, noted at the meeting that the city’s Planning & Zoning Board voted 7-0 against rezoning the property. The council will take a final vote sometime before the end of the year, giving homeowners near the course a final chance to air their displeasures.
“You are taking away one of the crown jewels of your city away from the citizens,” Daniels said. “People in Riviera Beach can’t go to BallenIsles,…
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