Luxury builder who wants to redevelop Pebble Creek Golf Course appeals Hillsborough rezoning denial
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 12, 2023

A luxury homebuilder has appealed Hillsborough County's denial of its request to rezone a defunct golf course near the Pasco County line.

GL Homes had asked the county to rezone Pebble Creek Golf Course, a 150-acre former golf course off of Bruce B. Downs and Cross Creek boulevards. The rezoning request would have allowed GL Homes to build 251 homes priced from the $600,000s on the property.

The property is still owned by Ace Golf, and GL Homes will close on the property once its plans are approved. The golf course closed in 2021 "because it was no longer financially viable," according to the builder's appeal.

Hillsborough County Commissioners voted against the rezoning request on July 18. The appeal was filed in Hillsborough County Circuit on Oct. 11.

GL Homes met with surrounding neighbors for one year leading up to the rezoning hearing, said Jacob T. Cremer, a partner at Stearns Weaver Miller in Tampa who represents the builder. But some neighbors remained strongly opposed to the redevelopment, and commissioners denied the rezoning request.

The proposal was recommended for approval at the staff level, and GL Homes "feels strongly that this is the project that belongs on that site," Cremer told the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

"Specifically, county staff found that the rezoning application was compatible because the property is surrounded by similar or more intense uses, including three-story and four-story multifamily buildings, a decommissioned wastewater treatment plant, community recreation uses, single-family residential homes and duplexes," according to the appeal.

The appeals process typically takes nine to 18 months, Cremer said.

In 2020, Hillsborough commissioners denied a tomato grower's rezoning request and ended up buying that land as part of a million-dollar settlement after the company sued the county.