VENICE, Fla. – The developer seeking to build homes on the Hawk’s Run Golf Course at Bird Bay Village in south Sarasota County has formally notified Venice that he plans to sue the city, invoking a formal dispute mediation process.
Jason Picciano, who owns the 33.3-acre course through Hawks Run Development LLC, has tried several times to develop homes on a portion of the course, operate a PopStroke style minigolf course on another portion of the course, as well as offer traditional golf on the remaining portion of the property.
In November 2022, the Venice Planning Commission unanimously recommended against an amendment to the Bird Bay Planned Unit Development that would have allowed him to build 45 villas and keep 12 holes of golf.
But that decision was based on a neighborhood open space protection strategy from the 2017 Venice growth plan, in a section pertaining to the Pinebrook Neighborhood and not other planned unit developments…