"Ponte Vedra Beach residents express concerns over PGA Tour development plans"

Stuart Korfhage of the St. Augustine Record reports on the conflict between Ponte Vedra residents and the PGA Tour over undisclosed development plans near the TPC Sawgrass.

The tour is asking for waivers without disclosing what it is they want to do on parcels of land between the TPC Sawgrass and Palm Valley Road. Though as a meeting went on, the tour's "consultant" Vernon Kelly revealed that a five-star hotel may be in the plans if only the awful economy were better!

That question was probably never truly answered, but Vernon Kelly, a consultant for the tour, did finally provide some insight into the tour’s development objectives an hour into the meeting.

Kelly said the most likely developments would include a small, five-star hotel as well as upscale retail and office space.

The property already has the approval for allowable uses that include: commercial, office, patio homes, multi-family, single family and special use. Mostly, the tour wants the flexibility to have those uses wherever they fit on the entirety of the property and not in “bubbles.”

“Nobody is going to be developing anything in this economy,” Kelly said. “If it is developed, it will be in a way that is complementary to The Players (Championship). We don’t want to build something that’s bad.”

That could be in the eye of the beholder, Kohnke argued.

“I do not trust the tour,” she said. “They (the PZA) never should have messed with our rules.”

No one is developing anything in this economy? The five-star hotel in the current climate is a non-starter? Did I miss a memo?

Interesting view on things down there at 100 PGA Tour Blvd!