DEP probe slows pending golf property project

The former Palm View Golf Course
The former Palm View Golf Course

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has given a developer of a former golf course near Bradenton until August 24 to submit a full report on possible ecological hazards.

In an August 10 letter, the DEP cited missing information about four storage tanks including one underground tank removed in 2014 from the former Palm View Golf Course in Palmetto.

The developer, Lakeland-based Highland Homes, has a pending deal to buy the former golf course for $1.4 million. The closing is contingent on Highland’s success in advancing a 142-unit residential development on the Palmetto property.

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The DEP in July began investigating Highland’s planned development of the former Palm View Golf Course after neighbors complained that the project could unleash toxic chemicals used to maintain the property over its 50-year history as a golf course.

Residents of the nearby Deer Run community in Palmetto won a zoning fight with Highland last year. But Highland advanced its golf course redevelopment project by successfully appealing the Manatee County Board of Commissioners’ initial vote on the zoning issue.

The DEP in July began investigating Highland’s planned development of the former Palm View Golf Course after neighbors complained that the project could unleash toxic chemicals used to maintain the property over its 50-year history as a golf course. [Bradenton Herald] — Mike Seemuth