Seminole County leaders are not giving up on a plan to preserve the former Rolling Hills Golf Club property. Investors gave the county another 30-day extension to figure out how it will pay to clean up the property.
- Homeowners want county to turn golf course property into park
- Inspectors found chemicals like arsenic in soil
- Cleanup may cost at least $1.5M; county struggling to pay
Sergie Albino’s family enjoys the open space next to their home.
“You move to Rolling Hills for the openness, the natural beauty of the area,” Albino said.
The Albino family’s home sits on what used to be the 18th hole of the old Rolling Hills Golf Club course. When the golf club shut down a few years ago, investors bought the property with plans to build homes on it.
But a group of homeowners, including Albino, didn't want to see homes built on the old course, so they pushed back in a campaign they called "Rescue Rolling Hills."
“If it’s not going to be a golf course, we still need to keep the beauty of nature that’s around here in Rolling Hills, because that’s very hard to come by these days,” Albino said.
Homeowners convinced county commissioners to buy the property from the investors and convert the golf course into a park.
But a few months ago, their plan hit a major snag.
Environmental inspectors found chemicals such as arsenic in the soil, likely from decades of fertilizing. The cleanup is estimated to cost at least $1.5 million. County leaders are now reluctant to pay that with major budget shortfalls looming.
The investors who own the property are losing patience with the county. They want the county to put some money down on the deal. The county got a 30-day extension in early January, which will expire soon. On Tuesday the investors gave the county another 30-day extension.
“Concern of the county pulling out of the deal is definitely there, but at the end of the day, it’s about cleaning up the property in order for the transaction to go through,” Albino said.
When county leaders meet on Tuesday, they’re expected to ask for another 90 days so they can have more time to come up with a plan to pay for the course cleanup.
Homeowners such as Albino will be closely following what happens.
“We all want to see this remain as a sanctuary for nature,” Albino said.
Seminole County commissioners have mentioned the possibility of homeowners sharing the cost of the environmental cleanup, but that would have to be approved in a vote among the homeowners living in the Rolling Hills area.