TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - Tamarac residents said they plan to protest a proposed hotel that, if approved, will be built in the middle their community.
Residents of the Woodmont community, like George Monteiro, said the proposed Extended Stay Hotel would be built in the middle of residential homes, and it will threaten their property values, their serenity and their peace.
“It’s a wonderful neighborhood, good schools and we don’t want to see that change,” Monteiro said.
Montero has lived at the community for 20 years, and he raised his family in the area.
Recent changes have also come to the Woodmont Golf and Country Club. A new clubhouse at the course has been relocated across from Monteiro’s home, and the property owner wants to develop the hotel.
“The proposed hotel is literally going to go from about 50 feet inside of the clubhouse to about 50 feet on the other side of the cart barn,” Monteiro said, “so it’s literally going to take up the entire space of my skyline.”
The 122-room Extended Stay Hotel will be built if the Tamarac City Commission approves the plan.
Neighbors said guests will be able to see into their backyards, and it will be built next to bike paths and schools.
“You buy a house in a quiet neighborhood not expecting they would build a hotel in your backyard,” Monteiro said. “That’s not something you expect, and it’s a security issue, it’s a crime issue. For kids, you know, I mean, there’s all kinds of hazards that come with transients coming and going all hours of the day and night. You never know.”
7News searched throughout the neighborhood and could not find a resident who wants the hotel to be built.
“A commercial establishment with all types of commercial vehicles and deliveries and et cetera, we don’t want it,” resident Alan Stoddard said.
Some said there are nearby hotels within miles of the proposed site, and the location does not make sense.
“Nobody is going to come in from out of town to stay in Tamarac to play on a golf course,” Monteiro said. “I think it’s just an excuse for the developer to sell off some of his property to make a quick profit at the expense of the owners of the homes.”
Some residents said the developer does not live in the area and does not have the community’s best interest in mind.
They hope the planned protest on Wednesday at city hall will change the commissioners’ minds because they are the ones who have to live with the hotel.
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