Halting the decline and pivoting to recovery begins with defeat of ruinous rezoning proposals for the golf course property. Recent Court rulings on PD community integrity coupled with a history of rezoning failures, suggest that WLLLC’s future options are limited. A rumored 2026 rezoning submittal for 230 single-family homes will once again face stiff opposition from SWL and the WLCA. The remaining major uncertainty: Will the WLCA be prepared to work with the City to maintain the property following abandonment?
Stormwater flooding is a major threat to Walden Lake, exacerbated by the lack of a Master Stormwater Management Plan. The stormwater threat would be compounded by residential development of the golf-course property. The PD document states that any development must meet the requirements of the approved plan on file in the City Engineers office. While no plan exists, City requirements were made clear in the 2014 Visions.
Application: no increase in pond levels or lake outflow and no increase in runoff to neighbors. The devastation of hurricane Milton in October 2024 prompted an effort by SWL to have the WLCA work with the City on the Plan, outlined in WALDEN LAKE FLOODING.
The greatest threat to our community is failure from within – failure of the WLCA Board of Directors to effectively execute its fiduciary responsibility to protect member interests. Board failure can spring from three sources: incompetence; misfeasance (unintended wrongdoing); malfeasance (intentional wrongdoing). Notable recent failures in each of these areas have left the Board in a perilous condition. Failure of the Reserve Plan to adequately address foreseeable future expenses heads a list of concerns, will be discussed further on our Blog (coming soon).