TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Residents across Florida are pushing back against more development, including people in the Tarpon Woods golf community in Pinellas County.
They’re worried the course could be converted from greenspace into more homes.
News Channel 8 learned that the charity that owned the golf course sold it to an LLC two years ago.
When 8 On Your Side looked into the sale to get answers for the people who live in Tarpon Woods, there were some additional questions.
Turns out, the Pinellas County property appraiser has some questions of his own.
Bill Nobles grew up in Tarpon Woods, a community in Pinellas County. He said his aunt built the first house in the neighborhood and his parents built the second.
Earlier this month, Bill Nobles stumbled on a permit that spiraled into an outraged community with hundreds of questions.
“Why did you lie to us?” Nobles said. “Why did you go this route?”
After learning that the golf course they live on was actually sold two years ago, Tarpon Woods residents like Nobles wanted answers.
Because, until Friday, Pinellas County property records showed that Jan Stephenson’s Crossroads Foundation still owned the golf course.
But when 8 On Your Side did some digging, we found a deed, which says that the foundation actually sold the property in 2022 to a company called ‘Tarpon Woods Properties LLC’ for $1.65 million.
So why wasn’t the sale reflected on the property appraiser’s website until now?
“I just first found out about the unrecorded deed about a week ago,” Pinellas County Property Appraiser Mike Twitty said.
He explained while the new owners don’t have to record a deed, property owners are required to complete the form below when they transfer property.
But Twitty said his office never received such a form for the 2022 sale of Tarpon Woods.
That’s not all.
The new owners have still been getting a property tax exemption even though the property is no longer owned by a non-profit, Twitty said.
“It’s a 50% penalty on that tax lien plus 15% annually,” he said. “It’s a stiff penalty, and it’s designed to be such.”
“It’s designed to be punitive so people don’t try to hide the ball or not be transparent,” Twitty said.
He said that tax lien is more than $70,000.
“Why didn’t they do it right in the first place?” Nobles said. “It’s a real simple process.”
News Channel 8 took these concerns to Kyle Parks, who is answering questions from the press for the new owners.
“We are committed to remedying any mistake that may have been made related to the deed,” Parks said.
Residents worry that the new owners aren’t being upfront about their plans for Tarpon Woods.
“They’re not going to win over our trust by not giving us information,” Nobles said.
Parks told News Channel 8 Wednesday that the owners plan to have the golf course declared a wetlands mitigation bank.
So, will that prevent any future development on the property?
“The wetlands mitigation bank, you are not allowed to develop on the property,” Parks said. “I cannot be any more clear on that.”
But when News Channel 8 took that same question to attorney Gary De Pury, who is unaffiliated with this project, he had a different take.
He claimed that the wetlands designation could still allow development at Tarpon Woods.
“Yeah absolutely, it could,” he said. “I would feel more secure that I’m going to have wildlife in my backyard with the wetland mitigation for 15 to 20 years than I would with just some other piece of property.”
“There’s more protection, but it’s not an absolute,” De Pury said.
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