DEP continues to scrutinize former Palmetto golf course for housing development

PALMETTO — It’s been close to a year since the Florida Department of Environmental Protection put the brakes on building 142 homes on the old Palm View golf course in Palmetto. The project is now called Jackson’s Crossing, but DEP officials are still waiting for the developer to get them up to speed on potential hazardous materials on the site.

After months of getting incomplete data from the developer’s environmental team, DEP has set a new March 28 deadline to have additional information submitted.

Lakeland-based Highland Homes purchased the 58 acres in January 2016 for $1.4 million pending final site plan approval, just weeks after the owner announced the 50-year-old course would be closing for good. Residents surrounding the course became concerned that development would disturb soil that had been treated with chemicals for a half-century.