Note: The below is an interpretation of the public comments during the city council meeting. These views are not necessarily the views of the no rezone committee. If you believe anything is misrepresented here, please let us know.
Three (3) Residents spoke in favor of the rezone. Reasons for the support include a desire to keep golf in the communities, protect property values, add senior homes to the communities, and to prevent open space that will not be maintained. There was also mention that there are too many golf courses in Brentwood and that golf is declining.
Fourteen (14) residents spoke against the rezone. Reasons for the opposition include:
- the plan doesn’t fit within the communities
- a need to explore other options
- the change proposed only benefits SunCoast
- emergency response times and emergency evacuation concerns, especially due to the pipelines throughout the golf course
- traffic concerns, especially around schools
- protect property values
- lack of trust of SunCoast
- a need to adhere to the general plan
- the communities are established and homeowners purchased with the belief the communities would not undergo significant construction
- closed holes are open space maintained in a natural sense
- closed holes remain as private property
- EIR is poorly written
- adverse impacts are far reaching
- SunCoast’s strategy does not include golf
- SunCoast is the one that needs to change, not the neighborhoods
Some residents also highlighted what they are not against and those include
- good change
- combining the course into one single profitable course
Opponents also requested action from the city.
Many stated that they are not available to attend city council meetings but feel that is their only forum to voice opposition. One resident also mentioned that many in the neighborhood are not comfortable speaking publicly at a city council meeting.
The requests were for community engagement in the form of “workshop meetings, public surveys, social media, etc.” as mentioned in a letter from the city’s Director of Community Development dated May 2017.
Another request for action of the city is to extend the review period since the local schools are on spring break and many families are not available during that time to review the EIR. According to the municipal code, the maximum number of review days is 90, not 60 as originally thought.