'It'll never be developed': Pine Islanders fend off attempt to turn golf course into houses

Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press
·3 min read
View of one of the ponds at Alden Pines Golf Course in Bokeelia which has remained closed after suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Ian. Lee County resident Scott Snyder organized a group of property owners from the Pineland neighborhood to band together in order to keep its golf course from being sold for development along Pine Island's historic mangrove fringe, once the native Calusa's capital.

A group of Pine Islanders is flipping the prevailing real estate model on its head.

Instead of watching their up-for-sale neighborhood golf course turn into rentals, duplexes or Airbnbs, they banded together to buy it themselves, so it will stay green.

“Now, it’ll never be developed,” said Scott Snyder, one of the leaders in the effort to keep Alden Pines’ golf course a golf course.

After Hurricane Ian gave their 18-hole, par 72 course a beating, he and his neighbors were unpleasantly surprised to learn it was on the market. Sure, in recent years, things had slipped a bit maintenance-wise – maybe it was a third-tier course, but it was certainly playable, Snyder says.

When he bought his home overlooking the 13th fairway in the back and the 12th in the front six years ago, “I was told by the agent it was a golf course and will always be a golf course.”

Aerial view of the Alden Pines Golf Course in Bokeelia which has remained closed after suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Ian. Lee County resident Scott Snyder organized a group of property owners from the Pineland neighborhood to band together in order to keep its golf course from being sold for development along Pine Island's historic mangrove fringe, once the native Calusa's capital.

More than a golf course to residents

And Alden Pines is no ordinary golf course. Just steps away from a massive mound complex left by the native Calusa people, it’s nestled behind a lush mangrove fringe bordering Pine Island Sound and Lee County’s Carver Preserve.

It’s as well-loved by animals as it is by golfers: “It’ basically a wildlife refuge with a golf course on it,” quips Snyder. Bald eagles, egrets, ibis, otters and alligators all thrive there, one of the reasons resident Ralph Urrutia prizes it as well. On Facebook, he recently shared a photo of two young sandhill cranes at the edge of a pond. "New neighbors came in this morning to Alden Pines Golf Course," he wrote.

Urrutia is happy the critters won’t have to move out and that his quiet will be preserved. “I love it out here,” he says. “We have all kinds of wildlife. And it’s peaceful.”

He and fellow residents learned of the threat to that peace after the storm, when they heard the Sarasota family that owned the course had decided to sell ‒ and that a developer was eager to buy.

More: Six months after Ian: Are dramatic changes coming to rustic Pine Island golf community?

At the annual homeowners’ meeting, Jason Picciano of Hawks Run Development and managing partner of Paradise Realty Holdings told residents that Lee County zoning would allow as many as 76 new residences, including townhomes and duplexes on the course land, neighbor Lance Van Auken wrote in The News-Press in March. The news was “disheartening,” he wrote.

Snyder was more direct, calling the proposal “just harebrained stuff.”

So residents banded together.

Though a homeowners’ association existed, they created another: Pine Island Golf Preservation Group LLC. They met, organized, made a website, got financial pledges and finally made an offer on the course: $1.2 million for the land, minus two lots retained by the Sarasota family.

Much remains to be done, Snyder says. “I’d say the fundraising is well underway, but not complete,” he said. “It’s going to be a big project.” Contributions are welcome from anyone, and all who chip in will have a stake in the course. “It will be owned by the people who contribute in perpetuity,” he said. “Anybody that puts a $100 bill into it will own a share of the golf course.”

View of the 9th green at Alden Pines Golf Course in Bokeelia which has remained closed after suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Ian. Lee County resident Scott Snyder organized a group of property owners from the Pineland neighborhood to band together in order to keep its golf course from being sold for development along Pine Island's historic mangrove fringe, once the native Calusa's capital.

The plan is to restore the course and all 18 holes to full operation as soon as possible Snyder says. A restaurant, bar and pro shop may be in the cards as well, but whatever happens, the important thing is it will remain green.

“It’s never going to be able to be sold (and) it will never be developed,” Snyder said. “We’re here for the duration … This place is amazing – somewhere that will not exist anywhere else in Florida and this is exactly where I want to live the rest of my life.”

View of the clubhouse at Alden Pines Golf Course in Bokeelia which has remained closed after suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Ian. Lee County resident Scott Snyder organized a group of property owners from the Pineland neighborhood to band together in order to keep its golf course from being sold for development along Pine Island's historic mangrove fringe, once the native Calusa's capital.

Learn more, help out

Online, visit http://PineIslandGolf.net

Lee County resident Scott Snyder organized a group of property owners from the Pineland neighborhood to band together in order to keep its golf course from being sold for development along Pine Island's historic mangrove fringe, once the native Calusa's capital.
Lee County resident Scott Snyder organized a group of property owners from the Pineland neighborhood to band together in order to keep its golf course from being sold for development along Pine Island's historic mangrove fringe, once the native Calusa's capital.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Pine Islanders fend off attempt to turn their golf course into houses