SEMINOLE, Fla. — The fight over the property of the former Tides Golf Club continues after Pinellas County officials give the property owner approval to demolish the clubhouse.
"We've been fighting it for years at this point," said neighbor Mike Murrah.
Murrah is just one of more than a hundred people who live near to the golf club fighting the Tides Development Group's plan to redevelop the property. The owner wants the county to rezone it so they can build a new subdivision on the property. Some neighbors said they also heard about new condos being built there.
"We need to do everything we can to preserve our green space and not continue to allow people to develop it."
The owner closed the golf club last year.
"It's just been a downhill spiral with everything getting worse," said Murrah.
The clubhouse is falling apart, which is why the county gave the owner two options: fix the building up or demolish it. The Tides Development Group chose to demolish it and now neighbors are concerned about what that will do to the environment.
"We're looking at the potential ground for environmental impact."
According to the county, the contractor hired to do the demolition is required to check the building for asbestos and other potential environmental concerns before the work starts. That's still not good enough for the Save The Tides group. They're appealing the county's decision to allow the demolition.
Even if the appeal doesn't work, they say they will continue fighting any development proposal that involves messing with the green space.
"There is no give up," Murrah said. "When you got this kind of beauty build somewhere else. It's that simple."
