A recent letter to Pinellas County Commissioners. Please keep writing & emailing every comment helps

Dear County Commissioners and Ladies and Gentlemen of the Local Planning Board for Pinellas County:

The more I read the Comprehensive Plan and it's Compendium, the more I am convinced that Taylor Morrison and Wells Fargo have no grounds to change The Land Use Designation or Zoning of the Tides Golf Course! 

Yes, It is private land! They have the right to ask for a change to their private land, just like I have the right to ask for my land to become farm land! That does not burden the Pinellas County Commission to approve their request! 

Wells Fargo took the Tides over knowing full well it was a golf course! It was zoned A-E for Uplands/and A-L for the Wet Lands. The Land Use Designation is Recreational Open Space. It was a viable golf course when they took it over...it is still a viable golf course today! 

The initial Compendium Principles states our case very clearly: 

COMPENDIUM PRINCIPLES 

The Ethic of Sustainability is Fundamental to Every County Policy, Decision and Plan

Principle 1: Sustainability is fundamental to every County policy, plan and decision, to ensure that our actions today do not compromise the quality of our future.

Principle 2: Pinellas County is committed to meeting its existing needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Principle 3: The long-term impacts of each policy decision will be evaluated to ensure that it does not compromise a sustainable future. 

The Ethic of Sustainability is fundamental to every County Policy, decision and plan! 

A decision to allow Taylor Morrison to change The Tides Golf Course from Recreational Open Space/and the zoning to meet their development needs going against what our County wants for our Neighborhoods. 

It does not allow a Sustainable Community! 

It changes the Character of our Neighborhood by destroying an True Estuary right smack dab in the middle of our Neighborhood of over 3000 homes! 

It does not Sustain a Quality Urban Community and does not promote a strong Neighborhood as the Comprehensive Plan titled "Planning Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow" states that is the direction our County envisions for our Future! 

"We know developers want to use our Lands, especially in our almost "BUILT OUT COMMUNITY", to create more wealth for themselves-no matter what the expense or loss may be to others"! 

Dear Commissioners, we have written in our Comprehensive Plan that when these developers have their eyes on our Recreational Open Spaces, we must recognize that as a threat to the very foundations of our thriving Communities like the Unincorporated area of Seminole that surrounds the Tides Golf Course! 

Do as the Comprehensive Plan tells us, we must recognize when developers are after our Recreational Open Spaces, such as our Golf Courses, and we must "PROTECT AND PRESERVE THEM"! 

Dear Commissioners and members of the LPA: 

VOTE NO TO ANY LAND USE CHANGE FOR THE TIDES GOLF COURSE 

VOTE NO TO ANY REZONING 

VOTE NO TO ANY DEVELOPMENT OF THE TIDES GOLF COURSE! 

Respectfully, 

Ron Stephens

Save The Tides Golf Course