Windermere Country Club, LLC wants to develop the Windermere Country Club Golf Course into 95 single family residential lots and has submitted an application to Orange County for the redevelopment.

The golf course has existed for roughly twenty-five years. People have bought and built houses in this community specifically to enjoy living in a golf course community, never dreaming that it could be taken from them. It is a haven for birds and other wildlife as well.

But now we are faced with the risk of our community being  transformed into wall to wall housing.

Our community is growing quickly and with more and more land being developed for residential and commercial use, our green spaces are quickly disappearing. We wish to preserve the character of our community. Adding more houses and people to this area will also overcrowd the roads and schools, create more noise and pollution, decrease our home values, and increase burden on infrastructure. We would like to encourage responsible, sustainable development which takes these issues into account and includes plenty of green space.

If this rezoning were to pass, the current residents of the surrounding neighborhoods near the golf course would have to endure construction noise, pollution, and traffic, which would decrease our quality of life. It does not seem right that homeowners in Windermere Club and nearby neighborhoods who bought into a GOLF COURSE Community, some over 20 years ago and some more recently, will have this feature taken away without recourse.

There are various legal arguments as to why the Developer may not develop the golf course and as to why a re-zoning by the County would not be proper.

Under the current zoning of the golf course and subdivision, represented by a "cluster plan" submitted by the original developer and approved by the County in 1985, the Developer is prohibited from deviating from the cluster plan and must conform to its requirements unless the developer successfully obtains an amendment. The cluster plan requires 38% open space, which would be violated by development of the golf course.

As a condition of obtaining approval for the original development of the subdivision and golf course, the original developer dedicated development rights for the golf course property to Orange County. This means that the Developer lacks the necessary rights to develop the golf course unless the County re-conveys or releases the development rights.

The plat of Unit 3 of the Butler Bay Subdivision expressly platted Tract 'A' as a golf course. Thus, each resident relying on the plat has the right to claim an easement or restrictive covenant to keep the property as a golf course, which right could be exercised to prevent development.

Some residents may have other legal rights to prevent development of the golf course based on their reliance on statements by the Developer or its predecessors in purchasing their lots/homes.

The original developer dedicated the golf course property as open space in order to receive zoning approval, and it is our position that the Orange County Zoning Code requires that such dedication, be permanent. Therefore, allowing the development of such open space would violate the Code.

We strongly oppose the rezoning and redevelopment of Windermere Country Club Golf Course into homes. We ask that Orange County deny development and that it remain permanent green space.