Current Status
Updated: 3 days ago
As of August 2026
Summary
Since 2024, stayTRU has been fighting multiple attempts to develop the Tatum Ridge Golf Links land. This land has no legal development rights and is duly recorded in County records as Open Space into perpetuity.
In 2020, the property was purchased by developers who have submitted three different applications to develop the land. Two of the three applications have been denied and the third is still pending. However, in June 2025, the developers sued the County and the County Commissioners personally in an effort to overturn the County's denial of their request to use Florida's Live Local Act to build 2,250 apartments on the land.
stayTRU and our attorneys at Johnson Pope continue to monitor the situation. We have several active initiatives to assist the Commissioners and the County in defending their denial and to ensure that the land remains Open Space into perpetuity.
1999: Sarasota County duly recorded into the public record that:
ALL development rights upon the Tatum Ridge Golf Links land (206 acres) had been swept off the land, sold and clustered onto the 130 acre parcel that would become The Legends neighborhood. This left the golf land with no development possibilities.
A Special Exception was granted into perpetuity allowing any owner of the golf land the right to conduct a golf business. No other business may be operated on the land; the only other possible use is as Open Space.
2020: the golf land was sold to a developer group.
2025: stayTRU was founded, in part, to protect the golf land from any development.
Despite the significant encumbrances upon the land listed above, the new golf land owners submitted three different proposals to develop the land:
Proposal 1: 440+ homes - DENIED in May 2025
Proposal 2: Commercial / Industrial / Warehousing - STILL PENDING
Proposal 3: 2,250 apartments via the Live Local Act (LLA) - DENIED (but see below)
2026: The Sarasota Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to deny all Live Local proposals on residential land - including the proposal to build apartments on the golf land
June 2026: Developers have initiated lawsuits challenging the County's authority to deny the LLA applications. As these lawsuits evolve, stayTRU continues to monitor the situation and will engage as necessary with legal and political strategies.
The LLA is a law with arguably good intentions that has been horribly implemented and misconstrued.
Passed in 2023 and expanded in 2025, the Live Local Act was designed to accelerate affordable housing by shifting key development decisions away from local governments. Projects that meet the law’s requirements can be approved administratively, without public hearings or votes by elected officials.
When the LLA was passed in 2023, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, said the clear purpose was to convert under-utilized commercial and industrial land in urban areas into affordable workforce housing "close to workplaces, shopping centers and schools." But the Act's vague language has created potential loopholes encouraging developers to apply for LLA approval on residential land far from urban areas - including the massive 2,250 apartment proposal for the Tatum Ridge Golf Links land.
stayTRU has several active initiatives intended to prevent any development of the golf land including:
Outreach and Membership Growth: with numbers comes strength. Representing more than 1,000 registered voters, stayTRU has quickly become a recognized voice and is working to attract more area voters through education, legacy and social media, direct mailings, workshops, etc.
Political Activism: stayTRU will support political candidates that support a) Return to Home Rule; b) Smart Growth; c) Natural Resource Preservation; d) Budgetary Conservatism.
Land Use: a stayTRU Committee led by Racimo Ranches resident Jack Meyers (johnp1702@yahoo.com) is working to protect the western side of the golf land from unfair development.
Legal: in partnership with Tampa law firm Johnson-Pope, stayTRU has developed a sound legal argument against any development and will continue to hone that argument as the situation evolves. Should the developer sue the County, stayTRU will be an interested party.
End Game Visioning: stayTRU is constantly asking: What's the best use of the land that a) ensures no development; b) preserves the natural beauty of the land; c) is permanent. And how do we manifest that vision? There are several viable options.
A group of StayTRU members rallied on April 16, 2026, to discuss their concerns about development of the Tatum Ridge Golf Links. The county commission blocked the owner from developing the property under Live Local Act, but organizers still fear plans could progress. | Photo by Derek Gilliam, Suncoast Searchlight
In 2025, the golf land owner submitted an application under Florida's Live Local Act to build 2,250 apartments on the golf land. This rendering shows the massive concept on land that has no development rights.
The Stay Tatum Ridge United group packed the Sarasota County Commission chambers on May 20, 2025, as elected leaders shot down a growth plan amendment that could have allowed a golf course in their neighborhood to be turned into 400 single-family homes. | Courtesy StayTRU
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