County Commission agrees to $2.2-million purchase, but with proviso that county staff works with homeowners association to alleviate any concerns about plans
After emphasizing that staff should provide regular updates not only to them but to the affected residents as the process unfolds, the Sarasota County commissioners this week unanimously approved the purchase of the 75.7-acre Forest Lakes Golf Course in Sarasota for its repurposing as a stormwater project.
The course is located at 1990 S. Beneva Road. The owner is Grosvenor Square Capital LLC.
Half-a-dozen Forest Lakes residents appeared before the board during the Jan. 27 public hearing to stress that a covenant that runs with the golf course property imposes restrictions on the land’s use. The original covenant dates to September 2006, as shown in a document that Connie Neeley, president of the Forest Lakes Homeowners Association, provided to the board members that day. A representative of Grosvenor Square Capital signed a first amendment to that covenant on March 13, 2014, as shown in other materials that Neeley gave them.
Several speakers said they were uncertain that the commissioners were aware of the covenant.
“Throughout this process, we were aware of this,” Matt Osterhoudt, director of the county’s Planning and Development Services Department, told the board members after the speakers concluded their remarks. Osterhoudt then used the overhead projector to show the commissioners the restrictions section of the covenant:
The covenant allows for parks or open space, Osterhoudt pointed out. “Open space equates to stormwater.”
He added that he and Stormwater Department Director Ben Quartermaine had let the Forest Lakes residents know that they would be willing to meet with the residents throughout the process of planning and creating the stormwater project.
Neeley told the commissioners, “We’re concerned that the county … doesn’t recognize that this is not just stormwater property,” referring to those plans, if the purchase is completed after a 120-day due diligence period that Osterhoudt also had noted. “This land is critical,” she stressed. “It is the heart of a community that’s been in existence for 62 years. It’s not just about drainage.”
Forest Lakes has 401 properties, she pointed out. Moreover, she said, the destruction of homes by flooding during the 2024 storm season — with much of the flooding linked to decades of insufficient county stormwater management — illustrated that maintenance “has not been our strong suit, as you know.”
For the Forest Lakes Golf Course initiative to succeed, Commissioner Teresa Mast stressed during the hearing, “I think it’s absolutely critical” for as many meetings as needed to take place between county staff and the homeowners, to ensure that the residents will be comfortable with the project. “There is that opportunity to really alleviate any fears …”
During exchanges with the commissioners before the speakers took their turns at the podium in the R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice, county Stormwater Director Quartermaine explained that, after he started working for the county in August 2025, he and his staff began considering improvements in the Phillippi Creek Basin, of which Forest Lakes is a part. That analysis also was a result of the flooding with which county residents contended during the 2024 storm season, he said.
Then he pointed out that the area around the Forest Lakes Golf Course was developed before the county adopted its stormwater regulations, “So there’s really not much stormwater function in this area.” For example, Quartermaine said, it has few ponds to filter stormwater before it flows into Phillippi Creek. Thus, the water quality of the creek in the community is poor, Quartermaine indicated.
Staff considered the potential of the county’s purchase of the golf course, he continued, “and turning it into stormwater ponds that would provide for flood protection moving forward,” as well as improve the water quality.
If the commissioners bought the property, he added, that would allow staff “to begin the — let me stress that word begin — the planning. It’s not something that’s already been planned.” Staff also would need to secure the necessary permits for the undertaking, Quartermaine noted.
“Most importantly, of course,” he said, staff would work with the homeowners association. “We’ve already talked with Forest Lakes [HOA] representatives regarding the acquisition,” he added, mirroring Osterhoudt’s comment on the same point.
A county staff memo in the Jan. 27 agenda packet for the item characterized the potential use of the golf course thus: “The Property is anticipated to provide significant stormwater management benefits through implementation of a proposed Forest Lakes Floodplain Creation/Mitigation project (following successful acquisition) in an area that was developed without stormwater infrastructure or best management practices. The project would include excavation of the existing golf course to provide large retention ponds and wetland habitat for the management of stormwater and reduction of nutrients from rainfall events up to and including the 1% change storm (10 inches of rain in 24 hours). In addition, the floodplain is anticipated to be reduced by up to 0.5-feet within a one-mile radius of the project, removing several homes and businesses from the floodplain.”
The funding for the purchase will come out of the county’s Surtax III program account designated for government infrastructure, the staff memo added. A voter-approved additional penny of sales tax provides revenue for all of the local government bodies in the county — including the School Board — to undertake a multitude of capital projects.
Annual maintenance of the property has been estimated at $54,000, county documents show.
An offer to sell
At the outset of the Jan. 27 staff presentation, Osterhoudt of Planning and Development explained that, on May 28, 2025, the owner of the golf course — also known as The Palms Golf Course — contacted county staff about the potential sale of the land to the county.
As required by both state law and county regulations, he continued, staff had to get two appraisals of the property.
The owner had suggested a price of $2.2 million, Osterhoudt said.
One appraisal put the value of the land at $2 million, he noted; the other, at $2.5 million. Based on those figures, Osterhoudt said, staff transmitted a formal written offer to the owner of $2.2 million.
(The Sarasota News Leader learned from the copy of the sales contract that was included in the Jan. 27 agenda packet that Grosvenor Square Capital LLC is a Delaware limited liability company. The contract was signed by Karen Lynn Gregg Neilinger, managing partner of Grosvenor Square Capital LLC, on Dec. 2, 2025. The Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee identifies her as a representative of KGN Properties LLC. That limited liability company lists its principal address as Suite 603 at 990 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota. The Beau Ciel condominium tower stands at 990 Boulevard of the Arts.)
The opportunity to set an example for other older county neighborhoods
The public hearing on the proposed golf course sale was listed on the Jan. 27 agenda as a Presentation Upon Request, which meant staff had considered it would not be controversial. However, as implied with the characterization of the hearing, any member of the board could request a presentation. In this case, Commissioner Mark Smith did so.
During an exchange Smith had with Stormwater Director Quartermaine, Quartermaine explained, “Stormwater from the residential area does not drain “too deep into the golf course now. … There would have to be some road improvements and piping … to get the stormwater to the golf course. … The neighborhood drains primarily directly to Phillippi Creek.”
“What we would do,” Quartermaine continued, “is create ponds out in the fairways and then redirect the roadway drainage into those ponds.”
“Are we going through people’s property to make that happen?” Smith asked.
“It would be piped,” so staff would “definitely need some easements,” Quartermaine replied. “It’s probable that we would have to go through side lots to get from the street to the newly created ponds …”
Commissioner Mast pointed out that, on several occasions last year when the board members discussed stormwater issues, she had brought up the fact that neighborhoods established before the county stormwater regulations went into effect likely would have to contend with retrofitting, so new stormwater infrastructure would lessen flooding threats to those communities.
“This is an excellent example of one of those situations,” she pointed out.
Nonetheless, Mast added, “I understand when you live in a community, and there are changes that occur, sometimes it can be very challenging [for the residents].”
She said she would find it “very beneficial” for staff to help the commissioners understand how the proposed stormwater project would function, so they could talk about it with their constituents.
“This really is a model for how we retrofit a lot of the county, so we want to do this right,” Quartermaine told Mast.
Although he had seen and read information comparing the Forest Lakes Golf Course proposal to the county’s creation of the Celery Fields Regional Stormwater Management Project, he added, “We’re not proposing park sections … or public space [in Forest Lakes].”
Moreover, he pointed out, the ponds will be designed in collaboration with the residents, “to ensure they’re getting what they want in their backyard. … But we also understand that this area is vital for the Phillippi Creek Basin. It’s right in the heart of it, and we can make something special here [and] improve the water quality …”
One of the speakers, Dianna Davenport — whose backyard has abutted the golf course for 62 years, she said — stressed to the commissioners that she and others whose homes are adjacent to the golf course “will be most affected by [the county effort] to convert the golf course to a stormwater facility — whether it be aesthetics, safety issues, lack of maintenance, or declining property values. We will feel the impact of your decision every single day, so our involvement makes sense …”
Another resident, Charles Wayte, told the board members that residents will expect “well-maintained views of the scenic space” along the creek.
The News Leader counted six residents of the community who addressed the commissioners during the hearing.
“Any time there’s an opportunity to address water quality and quantity in the form of stormwater mitigation [it] is a huge thing,” Commissioner Joe Neunder noted during the discussion.
He assured the Forest Lakes homeowners in the audience that he and his colleagues would join county staff in working hard to protect their interests to the best of everyone’s ability.
“I support this 100%,” he said of the purchase and project.
During the discussion, Chair Cutsinger did reference the 120-day period for due diligence, noting “At our sole discretion,” the board members could decide after the work has been completed that they do not want to proceed with the purchase.
“That’s right,” Osterhoudt of Planning and Development responded.
“I am absolutely certain that our staff is going to go the extra mile in meeting with the community and making sure that their concerns, to whatever degree possible, are met,” Cutsinger added.
Commissioner Smith agreed with Cutsinger when the latter said the board should move forward with approving the contract that day. However, he did tell Osterhoudt and Quartermaine, “I want [the residents’] total buy-in before we consummate the sale. … I know we can do this.”
“The 120 days to me is ideal,” Commissioner Mast added.
If the project works as Quartermaine believes it will, she continued, she expects residents of other, older county neighborhoods will be eager to participate in similar initiatives. “I want this to be very successful,” she said.
“This is an opportunity I don’t want to miss for stormwater,” Commissioner Tom Knight added.
Smith ended up making the motions related to the proposed sale and the funding of it, and Mast seconded the motion. When Cutsinger called the question, the vote was 5-0 in favor of the motion.