By Justin “Lemur” LeMire, Bluewater Bay Community Support Group
Neighbors, after the announcement of the closure of the Bay Golf Course, an emergency board meeting of the Bluewater Bay (BWB) Men’s Golf Association (MGA) was held.
Members of the MGA realized the need to put an exploratory committee together to find ways to preserve and protect the BWB golf course, surrounding green spaces and help influence future redevelopment. For years, the golf course has been in decline and losing money for a multitude of reasons. However, we can change that with some community support and the help of a professional management company to guide us!
We have become well versed in the history of the closure of the Magnolia nine-holes and the Lake nine-holes and their impacts on the community. Now, we are gathering to preserve and protect the remaining 18 holes and the greenspaces throughout the community. According to the 1977 Developments of Regional Impact (DRI), there can be approximately 4,084 homes in BWB, of which there are approximately 3800 currently built. Many people think since they are not golfers, what happens to the golf course doesn’t affect them. However, with an increase of 284 possible homes, that is 568 more cars, assuming two per household, many more children in the schools that are already over max capacity, and an increased strain on the existing road, sewage and utility infrastructure. The fact remains that the golf course acreage is prime real estate for development, and that real estate is currently owned by Bluewater Bay Develop Ventures LLC (BBDV). Now, instead of looking at BBDV as the antagonist, perhaps it should be considered as protecting BWB from national level development companies that could potentially enter BWB and build whatever level/quality of homes they want, without regard to thoughts, opinions and desires.
The Way Ahead! The community needs to have a vested interest in not only the golf course, but also the surrounding undevelopable greenspaces as well. We intend to build a solid business plan for the golf course guided by professional management that will generate funds to go back into the community green spaces. If the remaining 18 holes of BWB Golf Course are saved, a Not-for-Profit local course, we would have an economic engine for the community instead of relying solely on tax revenue.
How can the community do this? There are multiple ways that are being explored from having everyone pay a fee, to creating an investor group that will buy the course from BBDV through a lease-to-own agreement. The committee secured the help of Walter’s Golf Management Company to complete an assessment of the course to evaluate the viability of our proposal. We will look to hold community meetings going forward. The golf course closing is far from a done deal. However, it will take the community’s help to save it. There are 42 HOAs and 26 Non-HOA areas. Together, we can make a difference. We also formed the “Bluewater Bay Community Support Group” to raise the community’s awareness of this and other community issues (Find us on Facebook). For more information, I can be reached at (850) 716-4001 or email at justlemur@gmail.com.
