Flagler Beach commissioners allow temporary pause so leaseholder can propose golf-course overhaul

Flagler Beach commissioners voted 4-1 to allow the temporary pause of operations at the city-owned golf course through June 30 so leaseholder Jeff Ryan can pursue a planned renovation and submit a proposal to the city.

The decision follows months of public complaints about course condition, extended permitting and debate among commissioners about whether the city should sell the property, amend the lease, or pursue a long-term public-private arrangement. The pause gives Ryan time to refine plans and financing without having to operate the facility while heavy renovation work would take place.

The course’s condition and the future of the property drew the largest turnout of public commenters during the meeting. “What I’m trying to do is develop something great for everyone within the community,” Ryan told the commission, saying he had spent months obtaining an environmental resources permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District and that “we are now officially permitted as of about a month, month and a half ago.”

City Manager Dale Martin told the commission that although discussions had occurred previously about whether the city would consider a sale, “there is no current plan… to sell the golf course.” Martin asked Ryan to address his plans at the meeting; Ryan described an extensive renovation that would replace soil and irrigation, reconstruct greens to U.S. Golf Association specifications and install a new irrigation system, and said the clubhouse concept currently under review is about 15,000 square feet.

Public commenters expressed a mix of support and concern. Several residents said they want to preserve the land as a golf course or public recreational space and opposed an outright sale to a developer. “We want to see it be successful, but we think you are making a massive mistake selling it,” said resident Mark Emmuth. Other residents supported the renovation and urged the commission to allow someone to invest in bringing the course back to playable condition.

Commissioners sought clearer commitments before any transfer of ownership. Several members suggested ways to protect the public interest if the city were to move toward a sale or lease-to-own option, including milestone-based conditions in any purchase option so improvements are completed before ownership could change. City Attorney Drew Smith outlined that a lease amendment with a “triggered option to purchase” tied to specific improvements is one available mechanism.

After discussion the commission voted to permit a pause in operations and asked Ryan to submit a written proposal with details and milestones — several commissioners suggested a target of about 30 days for an initial proposal — and agreed to review any extension of the pause in monthly increments. The motion passed on a 4-1 roll call; the commission did not approve any sale or lease-to-own agreement at the meeting.

Ryan described a renovation timeline of roughly seven months for construction, plus a growing-in period for turf. He said experts he has contracted will bring in about 4 inches of engineered root-zone mix and use seashore paspalum, a salt- and drought-tolerant turf, for the greens and fairways. He told the commission that permitting had taken more than eight months and that he expects a multi-stage construction schedule if allowed to pause operations.

Commissioners and residents also raised concerns about flooding, lighting and parking impacts of a larger clubhouse footprint, and the enforceability of deed restrictions if the property were ever sold. Mayor Patty King responded to an accusation from a resident earlier in the meeting that she had misled the public about the status of a sale, saying, “I did not speak anything that I was aware of as untrue.”

Next steps set by the commission include: Ryan submitting a written proposal with bullet-point milestones and a financing outline; staff and counsel drafting possible lease amendments or conditions to protect the city’s interests if the commission chooses to negotiate a sale or option in the future; and periodic commission review of any operational pause. Ryan told the commission he could “send something from my side to yours” and “I'd be happy to do that.”