MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – It wasn’t eggs or birds or endangered species, or homeowners dreading more traffic.
It wasn’t Miami-Dade County officials or staff that kept saying yes to building hundreds of homes on the old Calusa golf course.
It was the Florida Supreme Court that refused to even take up the issue.
That ends developer GL Homes’ fight against Calusa area homeowners, who successfully argued that they weren’t given enough notice about the plan to pack 550 homes on the golf course in the middle of their dense West Kendall neighborhood.
“Instead of doing that, they repeatedly said, ‘No, we feel our notice was sufficient,’ and continued through the process,” said homeowner Amanda Prieto. “Then we felt we had to go through legal avenues.”
This all started when the developer bought the land two decades ago. It was required green space, but that requirement went away with the support of a group of homeowners who were paid off, according to one commissioner.
During the fight, homeowners proved the land is nesting ground and home to several endangered species.
“Is there a chance the county is going to buy the land?” asked Local 10′s Glenna Milberg.
“We would’ve liked that at the very beginning,” replied homeowner Dennis Horn. “it’s private property now.”
Added Prieto: “They will continue to submit an application and try again, but a lot of things have changed. We do feel like there is more focus on environmental side and preservation.”
If and when the developer tries again, they will have to start from step one, but with a different commissioner and different environmental landscape.
Neither the developer’s team nor county attorneys have responded to Local 10 News’ request for comment.