West End Year In Review
Dear Friends of West End,
Our journey to save the West End Golf Course property from development began in earnest on July 23, 2020 when the engineering firm, JBrown Professional Group, held a Neighborhood Workshop to discuss a development application that would see up to 500 homes on the West End golf course. The workshop lasted over 4 hours and was attended by more than 200 residents who were all opposed to the proposed development. The property is owned by James Minn and is under contract for sale to the developer Sayed Moukhtara. The sale is contingent on the county changing the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning from Recreational to Residential. Friends of West End (FOWE) was formed, and the local community began to mobilize a concerted effort to fight the development. Some accomplishments include:
Hired a land use attorney.
Initiated a petition and a GoFundMe account.
Developed brochures, a video, and storyboard for outreach purposes.
Hosted a number of meetings with the local residents as well as current and former state, county, and city officials.
Encouraged a letter writing campaign to the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners, held two protests, and received news coverage from the Gainesville Sun, Mainstreet Daily News, TV20 and WUFT.
Leveraged social media through the FOWE Facebook page and NextDoor to raise awareness and garner support for maintaining the West End golf course as green recreational space.
Established the West End Community Alliance for Recreation and Education, Inc. (WECARE) a
Florida not-for-profit corporation that now has Federal 501(c)(3) status (westendcare.org).
Developed an on-line survey for the community to provide feedback on the types of recreation and amenities that would be supported on the West End golf course property.
A few months after submitting their development application to the county, we learned that the developer requested a two-month deferral in evaluating their application. Those two months stretched into eight months and ultimately ended when the developer formally withdrew his application in July 2021.
The celebration over the development application withdraw was short lived as Mr. Moukhtara and JBrown quickly proceeded in hosting three meetings with surrounding homeowner representatives to show and discuss a revised plan. The “doughnut hole” plan entailed 139 homes in the middle of the property. Many questions were raised concerning the management, maintenance and amenities in the area surrounding the homes. Given the lack of response to our questions and concerns that the overall plan did not meet the needs of the local community; the homeowner representatives rejected the plan.
During the summer, WECARE and FOWE participated in and contributed to a county initiative to develop formal standards and policies on the future land use of designated recreational properties. This was a very positive step taken by the county to further recognize and protect valuable recreational land in the county, to include the West End golf course.
This fall, WECARE submitted a land use acquisition nomination to the county Land Conservation Board to buy the property. The nomination was accepted, and Mr. Min gave permission for a site-specific evaluation which was performed on 10/8/21 by county personnel. The evaluation results were presented at the 10/28/2021 Land Conservation Board meeting. Unfortunately, the evaluation scored very low and did not meet the conservation program criteria. However, the Board did recognize the importance of maintaining the property’s designation as recreation and agreed to send a letter to the Board of County Commissioners endorsing that need. The property has been abandoned with unfettered growth of vegetation, dead and dangerous trees scattered throughout, and the clubhouse windows have all been broken and interior vandalized. As of November 2, Mr. Min has amassed code violation fines of $25,710 including a recurring $250 per day fine plus the potential of a $210 lien processing fee.
As the year ends, we are faced with the potential of another development application being submitted to the county. JBrown has called for a community workshop on December 9th to roll out a new development plan for the West End golf course property. With the property in ruins and ongoing efforts to develop, our fight must continue stronger than ever before. WECARE and FOWE are committed to exploring all avenues that will further our goal of keeping the West End Golf Course property recreational green space for all to enjoy. Your continued support is essential.
WECARE and FOWE - Working for Health, Happiness and Recreational Green Space in 2022
West End CARE by the numbers.