The Clearwater City Council on Aug. 6 voted 3-0 — with two Council members abstaining — to accept development proposals for a city-owned golf course called The Landings.
The vote came after the city received an unsolicited proposal from a local developer late last year to turn the golf course into a sports complex.
Here’s what to know about the development opportunity and the City Council’s votes moving forward.
Who wants to develop the golf course, and what is the plan?
Local developer Les Porter pitched the city with an unsolicited proposal late last year.
Porter has tried for several years to build a sports complex in Pinellas County. In 2021, he purchased a 29-acre property in St. Petersburg that was a former Raytheon defense firm site. He wanted to build a sports complex there, but after neighbor pushback, withdrew the project. He pivoted and is now building more than 1,000 residential units on the property, 30% of which are designated for workforce housing.
He also tried to build a sports complex in Largo in 2022, but voters rejected the plan in a referendum.
Porter’s pitch for The Landings would bring two dozen covered pickleball courts, sand volleyball courts, a water park, a fitness and wellness center and a running and biking trail.
Porter would lease the property from the city through one of his companies, Sunshine Recreation and Entertainment, LLC. The company would pay $20,000 a month to the city, but wouldn’t pay rent for the first five years. The company would then gradually increase payments throughout the next 15 years.
“I’ve always thought that The Landings would be the perfect site for a sports complex,” Porter said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times last month. “It’s centrally located, and I think we can really leverage the success of the beaches.”
The plan would cost roughly $180 million and take three years to complete. Porter would ask for $45 million from the county’s tourist development tax and use a loan and private equity to fund the remainder of the project.
Why did two council members abstain from the vote? Will they both abstain moving forward?
Mayor Bruce Rector and Council member Mike Mannino abstained from the vote this month.
Mannino abstained out of caution. He is a part-time coach and trainer for a local soccer club that could play at Porter’s proposed complex. Mannino’s father also retired as director of coaching for the club last year but receives payments from a two-year severance contract with the organization and works as a consultant.
The city was unsure if that meant Mannino had a conflict of interest.
City Attorney Owen Kohler contacted the Florida Commission on Ethics for guidance, but did not receive a response by the Aug. 6 vote. He said depending on the commission’s opinion, the city would determine whether Mannino could vote moving forward.
Kohler received a response Aug. 21 that said there is no conflict of interest for Mannino because a vote on the proposal would not financially affect him or his father. Gray Schafer, assistant general counsel for the commission, said Mannino could still excuse himself from the vote if he wanted “to avoid even the appearance of a conflict.”
Rector recused himself from the vote because he is general counsel for The Sports Facilities Companies, which is a management business that would operate the complex.
He has worked with the Clearwater-based management company for more than a decade. When Rector was running for mayor, Porter and the founding partners of The Sports Facilities Companies — Dev Pathik and Jason Clement — donated to a political action committee supporting his bid for office in 2024.
At the time, Porter and Pathik told the Times they did not have a project in mind.
Porter said the timing wasn’t right for the project until last year. He approached Sports Facilities Companies in October 2025 about the plan, according to his proposal.
Porter said he’s worked with Sports Facilities Companies for six years and does not interact with the legal team. Pathik did not respond to a voicemail and emails seeking comment.
“He recused himself,” Porter said of Rector. “I thought it was a dead issue.”
Rector said he’s known Porter for a long time and through community activities outside of the work. He said he learned from city staff Porter may propose something, and he did not engage with the conversation on either side.
“I haven’t been involved at all,” Rector said. “I haven’t had any discussions with anybody at The Sports Facilities Companies. Anything I know about this project, I’ve learned through the media or through whatever has been made public to us.”
What do residents think?
This isn’t the first time someone has wanted to develop the golf course. In 2020, a development group wanted to build industrial manufacturing on a majority of the course.
In a referendum that year, Clearwater residents rejected the proposal with 61% of the vote. Residents formed a group called Keep Keene Green — a nod to the golf course’s location off of Keene Road — to rally against the development idea. They have remained active and oppose Porter’s pitch.
That proposal required a referendum because the use of the property was changing. The city determined Porter’s proposal does not require a referendum because the course’s current zone, open space, allows for parks and recreation.
Some residents have questioned the city’s determination that a referendum isn’t required, partly because Porter’s plan has several proposed restaurants that would support the venue’s revenue.
In addition to these concerns, residents are worried about the environment. Under the current proposal, Porter’s plan would bring 12 synthetic turf fields, which is 1.1 million square feet of turf. They’re worried about runoff from the fields, light and noise pollution, traffic and interference with the Clearwater Executive Airport, which the golf course abuts.
The development team has met with residents to adjust its plans for the proposal — including covering the pickleball courts — and has said the development will benefit the environment.
The proposal would fix stormwater issues, a lawyer representing the development group said, and help reduce flooding in the area. They would also install new water quality treatment systems.
Another roughly 20-acres of the property contains landfill. Under Porter’s plan, his development team is going to pursue designation as a brownfield area, which is part of a state program that provides financial and regulatory incentives for the redevelopment and cleanup of properties that are contaminated.
“We’re going to leave it in a much better state than in the way we are finding it,” Porter said. “I’ve got a great environmental team.”
And, residents and community members involved in local sports say this development will fill a major need for sports fields and outdoor recreation.
What happens next?
There’s an open 30-day window to accept other proposals. The deadline to submit plans is 10:00 a.m. Sept. 21. The city will then evaluate the proposals and rank them with a point system.
