Residents weigh in on Deerfield

The former Deerfield Lakes Golf Course could become an RV park with water amenities accessible to the public, provided the landowner’s application is approved. The Nassau County Commission denied his request in 2018.

Ken Greene, who bought out former partner Chad Grogan and closed the 55-year-old golf course earlier this year, aims to redesign the property. To do that, he first needs to convince local residents and county officials to rezone the property from open rural and low-density residential to recreation. 

Neighboring property owners received a letter Sept. 26, inviting them to a meeting Sept. 30. One resident shared a copy of the letter on Facebook and a total of approximately 45 people, including Greene, attended the meeting. Also in attendance were Planning and Zoning Board members Jimmy L. Higginbotham and Charlie Gressman, who is a candidate for the District 5 seat of the Nassau County Commission in 2020.

Greene can reapply for rezoning as early as November and wishes to open an RV campground with a waterpark and other amenities available. He plans to keep nine holes of the original golf course, with modifications to turn them into par three holes.

He reintroduced his plans to those present at the meeting, held inside the golf course’s clubhouse. He owns approximately 267 acres, including the golf course and various connecting parcels. Roughly 85 acres of woods separate the property from its neighbors.

“These woods, we intend to keep all of these permanently in place as a preserve,” Greene said. County drainage easements also add distance between the property and its neighbors.

Residents expressed concern about whether the tree buffer surrounding the property would remain intact. Greene said it would be a preserve area with potential use as hiking and biking trails. He said ATVs would not be allowed.

He added that campers do not go to campgrounds to see residences, just as residents do not want to see RVs from their properties, making the trees an essential buffer for the park.

Henry Vorpe, president of AVA Engineers, Inc., added that drainage in the area should improve, with the St. Johns Water Management District and county officials monitoring the development’s effect on the area. He assisted Greene at the meeting and may be the engineer for the development if it is approved.

“So if you’ve got drainage problems now, if it passes the zoning and you make those known to your county commissioner, it’ll get back down to the staff and it’ll roll down to me and I’ll be the one that has to make (Greene) mad and tell him he’s got to pay for those improvements,” Vorpe said.

The campground would include a maximum of 450 RV spaces and cabins, if Greene elected to construct those. It would also include a 14-acre waterpark, including a pool, lazy river and splash pads, two laundromats for the campers, a clubhouse for events and possibly a restaurant.

A self-contained water and wastewater treatment system would be constructed onsite and water and sewer hook-ups would be available at each RV site.

“It’s a package plant used for groundwater discharge,” Vorpe said.

Greene added that the waterpark would likely close at dusk.

“Maybe we’d have it open for special events, but as far as the general public, I think dark or 9 o’clock.”

He added that the park’s entertainment would not include outdoor entertainment at night.

“At any of these campgrounds, people like it quiet really early, like 8:30, 9,” Greene said.

He added that campers would be limited to a maximum stay of four months and that he’s looked into conducting background checks of long-term campers to reduce the chance of sex offenders residing at the campground.

“I don’t want creeps out here either,” Greene said. “I haven’t done any statistics or anything like that, but the way I see it, the bad guys, usually, they’re not going to be able to afford a $250 or $300,000 camper or even an $80,000 camper because they usually don’t have regular jobs.” 

With lifeguards on duty and at peak season, the park could employ 50-plus employees, with far less on staff in the colder months when only the campground and nine-hole golf course would be open. 

Greene added that he would be willing to allow school golf and swim teams to practice onsite. Currently, golfers travel to North Hampton for practice and competition while swimmers practice in Hilliard with home competitions held in Fernandina Beach.

 “Anything that we can do to bring the community in here – the local community – that’s what I’m looking for. I will make money at this, but I’d also make money building houses. But the thing is, I really want to do this for Callahan, because Callahan needs something and I can provide it.”

“Not just Callahan, but Nassau County period,” said George Spicer, former county commissioner for District 5. He came to the meeting to voice his support for the project. “There’s nothing in Nassau County like this and nothing for our youth, the kids, especially in the summertime. I think it’s a great idea myself. I have grandkids that go to school here and I’ve been here 30 years myself and I live next door to an RV park, Kelly’s RV park. And we’ve never experienced any problems with that RV park since we’ve been here.”

The property is amidst single-family homes, separated by a tree buffer that’s thin in one area but wider around a majority of the properties. A resident addressed concern for the thin area, which is behind her home and so shallow that she can see the driving range from her backyard. The driving range is the intended future home of the 14-acre waterpark Greene envisions.

He assured her he would add additional tree buffer in that area so that it would not be visible from her property.

When Greene first introduced his campground idea in 2018, residents were concerned about traffic.

“Our big goal is to close off (Deerfield Country Club Road) with a cul-de-sac … and close all traffic off from that direction,” Greene said. 

He plans to construct a new road off Lem Turner between Deerfield and Serendipity Lane, lined with trees on both sides of the roadway into the campground.

“So basically, when you turn off Lem Turner, you won’t see another house,” Greene said. “It’ll look like you’re out 100 miles from anywhere. You won’t see any homes anywhere.”

The Florida Department of Transportation also requires a turn lane be constructed on Lem Turner Road at the campground’s entrance.

“There’s going to be a turn lane on Lem Turner to turn into the park from both the north and the south, so you’ll have a bypass lane. That should help traffic quite a bit there. There won’t be any more stopping like there is today if you were coming to the old golf course,” said Vorpe.