Florida city poised to sell golf course land for $1.25 million

TALAHASSEE, Fla. — The city commission is poised to vote on the sale of the Capital City Country Club for $1.25 million at the upcoming meeting.

In September, the club wrote a letter asking the city to end its long-term, $1-a-year lease and sell the property to the club so it can pull itself out of financial straits. The request sparked major community debate with many community members concerned about future developments impacting their neighborhoods and the lack of memorialization of the unmarked cemetery of Black slaves that is on the property.

Community members came out in force during the October city commission meeting to criticize the city for not properly honoring the unmarked graves, for moving too fast with the sale and for their willingness to consider selling it for only a little more than $1 million.

Commissioner Jeremey Matlow has said the city is lowballing its property valuation to secure a favorable deal and warns of a "fire sale" trend of city assets. He said the commission is being primed to potentially sell one of the city's largest parcels for "pennies on the dollar for what your land is worth."

The public outcry led the commission to delay their decision until more facets of the sale were clearly laid out and city staff explored alternative options to selling. Now city staff are once again recommending commissioners sell the property, leaving elected leaders with a choice of whether to see the sale through or continue to debate what to do at the Dec. 10 meeting.

To allay resident concerns, the city wrote in a series of safeguards in the purchase and sale agreement.

The conditions ensure the country club would permanently be used as a golf course and that the the commemorative area and cemetery be open to the public. They include:

• A deed restriction that requires the Capital City Country Club to operate the property as an 18-hole golf course and never allow further future development of the property.
• A deed reservation that requires commissioner approval for any future sale of the property by the Capital City Country Club. 
• A perpetual utility easement, including but not limited to water, sewer, drainage, stormwater, electric, natural gas, or any other city utility through the premises.
• An agreement to complete a zoning change to "open space."
• A perpetual use agreement that say the property will be perpetually operated as an 18-hole golf course, "preserving its natural and historic resources and scenic open space."
• A cemetery commemoration and maintenance agreement that covenants in perpetuity public access to the commemoration site, pathway, burial site, and ornamental fence around the boundary of the Commemoration Site; as well as the City’s ability to install, maintain, repair, and replace the markings and infrastructure at the site.  This agreement will run with the property, like an easement.  

City agenda materials also say that the proceeds from the sale will be used for the installation of the commemorative burials site that the city estimates to cost $98,000. The rest will go into the city's Deficiencies Reserve Fund, which is an emergency reserve designed to cover unforeseen operating deficits.

City lays out plans for commemorative burial sit

After a long delay, a project to commemorate unmarked graves of Black slaves at the country club began moving forward in a visible way last month, with city of Tallahassee crews removing downed trees and storm debris near the site.

The city also erected a “Coming Soon” sign at the site, which is located on a 178-acre parcel that the city owns but leases to the country club for its 18-hole golf course and shortly after erected a historical marker.

The burial site design is slated to have a "paved pathway through a wooded corridor, linking marked on-street parking to a gathering space situated between the roadway and the golf course," according to agenda materials.

Work on the site has already begun with things like pathway clearing and signage placement already complete.

Next steps include:

• Concrete pouring and curing (in progress)
• Brick columns and knee wall masonry (14 days)
• Ornamental fence installation (2-3 days)
• Landscaping and irrigation connection (3-4 days)
• Site punch list and closeout (2-3 days)

The proposal remains controversial. A leading critic of the sale is Delaitre Hollinger, president of the National Association for the Preservation of African American History and Culture, who served on the city committee to develop plans for the cemetery memorial before the project languished for years.

"The 200 slaves buried on this former slave plantation more than a century ago are just now being memorialized in the last two weeks; more than 6 years after the bodies were first discovered," he wrote on Facebook Dec. 4, noting plans don't address a golf cart path and women's tee box that may be built over the graves. "I implore all citizens of goodwill to oppose the sale of this publicly-owned property."

Staff downplays other options to financially support club as not costly

As part of the October vote to delay the sale of the golf course, commissioners asked city staff to bring back alternatives to an outright sale.

According to the agenda item, staff found three different routes, all of which were presented as less viable options compared to a sale.

One option was to create a public park on the 179-acre property that could be "maintained at a level similar to open greenspace areas in other City parks at an annual cost of $89,000 to $221,000."

"These areas would need to be mowed once a week in May-September, twice a month in March, April and October and once a month in November-February for a total of 30 times a year," the agenda says. "Additional resources would be required to add these acres to the existing mow schedule. Staff estimates an annual total cost of approximately $220,000 if this work was contracted out at an estimated cost of $55/acre."

The city also explored financing the improvements required at the golf course.

"In a scenario in which the city borrowed funds to make improvements to the leased asset, consideration would need to be given to income tax regulations governing issuance of tax-exempt debt," according to the analysis. "While the city most often issues its debt on a tax-exempt basis, golf course activities are not exempt and are considered a “private activity” under the governing laws and regulations unless the golf course is owned and operated by a municipality as a public benefit."

The third alternative was for the city to assume operating control of the golf course, which would make it the third city-operated golf course alongside Hilaman and Jake Gaither. Staff cautioned though that if the commission were to approve this, the third golf course would create "significant annual losses to the city’s golf program" and lead to changes in how many people play rounds of golf at the two current city golf courses.

"To support the transition, the City would need to either purchase the 9.2 acre Capital City-owned parcel and make significant capital investments to renovate the existing building or constructing a new clubhouse, or build a new facility on land otherwise owned by the City," the agenda says. "For purposes of this analysis, staff have assumed the cost of the facility to range between $840,000 to $1.7 million under these assumptions."

Staff settled on an outright sale because it "implements in perpetuity" protections for the cemetery and against future development and provides funding for the cemetery memorial. They also hailed a deal between the country club and Florida A&M University that allows student golfers access to the club and may one day help "upgrade the course for collegiate championship competition."

Local government watchdog reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.