A plan for more than 700 homes is being proposed on a portion of West Boca golf course, but the idea already is receiving backlash.
Now, Lennar developers want to build “a mixture of luxury home types” on nine of the 27-hole Boca Lago golf course at 8665 Juego Way between State Road 7 and Florida’s Turnpike while also “helping Boca Lago Golf & Country Club ensure the ongoing sustainability and operations of the golf club,” according to Lennar’s website.
Lennar, the developer behind the proposal, has built several other communities in South Florida, including Arden in Loxahatchee, Delray Trails in Delray Beach, Dania Preserve in Dania Beach, Sanctuary Grande in Miami and Tuscan Springs in Pembroke Pines.
The 762 residences are proposed to be a mix of townhomes built to the west of Lyons Road and condominiums built to the east of Lyons Road, as the greens sit on both sides of that road. According to Lennar’s site plan, the existing nature preserve areas would remain untouched, and no additional traffic through existing neighborhoods or on existing streets would be created.
“There’s a lot of thought and design that went in this plan,” Ken Tuma said during a West Boca Community Council meeting on April 8. Tuma is a managing principal with Urban Design Studio, which is involved with the plan, and he was speaking about the project during that meeting.
Tuma said the Boca Lago golf course is about 240 acres, and Lennar is under contract to develop 76 of those. And there currently are more than 1,800 homes already at Boca Lago. “It’s a 27-hole golf course, and the goal is to make it an 18-hole golf course,” Tuma said.
The Boca Lago Country Club general manager Michelle Rolon said the club is not mandatory like how other golf clubs tend to be. Because of that, working with Lennar could be a way for the club to sustain itself going forward, she said.
Lennar declined to comment to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, but officials were present at the April 8 meeting. The meeting ended due to overcrowding before Lennar could speak.
Though “a long ways away from a public hearing,” Tuma said during the meeting that the county may provide a first round of comments on the project in about a month or so.
Adding homes to golf courses has been part of a yearslong trend across South Florida, where undeveloped land is scarce. Over the years, various golf courses have seen proposals for new residences, often facing opposition from neighbors.
‘We need to stay vigilant’
Hundreds packed the cafeteria at Olympic Heights High School on Tuesday evening waiting to make remarks about the Lennar project. The people in the crowd consisted of homeowner association presidents, 55-plus-community residents and people who have called West Boca home for decades.
“Although we are extremely concerned for Boca Lago, this does impact everybody in West Boca in one way or another,” West Boca Community Council president Sheri Scarborough said during Tuesday’s meeting.
The chief concerns brought forth about the project included traffic, increased emergency service response times and a disruption in the quality of life. And while some people expressed contentment about a possible compromise with Lennar, others said they want to be rid of the project completely.
“The county is going to approve something, they absolutely are going to approve something. There’s no way we’re going to get this to just go away and disappear,” said Lynn Lesell, a resident in the area, during the meeting. “Really think about what we can do to minimize this in the best way possible. … If we stay strong together, we can get what’s best for us, not for them.”
Meanwhile, some residents don’t want to scale back at all, instead demanding for total preservation of the community and infrastructure.
Because the project has yet to be heard by the Palm Beach County Commission, West Boca Community Council Treasurer Neil Schiller said if people want their voices heard, they should reach out to the commissioners with their opinions and do so often.
“This is the time where we need to stay vigilant,” Schiller said during the meeting.
‘I can easily say no’
County Commissioner Maria Sachs, who represents the district where the Boca Lago project could rise, has seen this conflict play out before: The construction of GL Homes’ 12th Valencia community in West Boynton also along Lyons Road, for example, saw a similar tug-of-war between the developer and residents who want to halt development.
Sachs said she intends gather together county engineers, planners and residents for a meeting to discuss how to move forward, specifically with goals such as making Lyons Road a safer thoroughfare.
“I have always said, a shovel doesn’t hit the ground until the infrastructure is in place,” she said.
Sachs said her job is to ensure residents’ needs are met, especially when it comes to emergency services, school buses and road access.
“I can easily say no, I’ve done it before, and the other county commissioners have done it before as well, but that’s up to us,” she said.
