La Gorce Country Club seeks to fold an Alton Road house lot into its golf course

La Gorce Country Club has asked Miami Beach to rezone a single-family lot it recently bought at 5757 Alton Road so the property can become part of its golf course, according to filings on the city’s Planning Board agenda.

The lot sits on the east side of Alton Road just south of West 58th Street and backs onto the club’s course. It is about 7,125 square feet and holds a single-family house, according to the club’s letter of intent, filed in July by its attorneys at Bercow Radell Fernandez Larkin & Tapanes.

The club is asking for two changes: rezoning the lot from RS-4 single-family residential to the city’s GC golf course district, and changing its future land use designation from single-family residential to recreation and open space. Both are ordinances that would ultimately need City Commission approval after a Planning Board recommendation.

The letter says the club wants to fold the property into its existing campus for “long-term planning and operation of the golf course and its associated amenities,” and argues the change would add open space without increasing density. The filing does not say whether the house would be torn down or what would replace it. The architect’s plan set submitted with the application shows new property lines and setbacks for the club site.

Hearing pushed again

The item was first scheduled for the Planning Board’s Oct. 6 meeting and carried over to Nov. 3. On Oct. 26, the club’s attorney, Michael Larkin, asked the city to move it again, to the board’s Dec. 8 meeting. His letter says the club has been in discussions with neighbors and needs more time to finish materials explaining what it sees as the benefits of the rezoning and to continue its outreach. The items appear on both the Nov. 3 and Dec. 8 agendas, and the Nov. 3 agenda notes the applicant is requesting the continuance.

The item is listed as a “Residents Right to Know” matter for Middle Beach, so residents subscribed to the city’s neighborhood notices received an alert about it this week.

The Planning Board’s Nov. 3 meeting starts at 9 a.m. The agendas and the full application are on the city’s OneMeeting portal.