Soccer reigns supreme with some 4 billion fans worldwide. Stateside, the sport has bested baseball and American football as the most played sport by youths in the country.
In support of the growth, an east coast Florida man is banking on a zoning change that would allow him to convert and old Okeechobee cattle pasture into a massive soccer complex complete with a 2,500-seat stadium, a hotel, restaurant and dormitory-type housing for young soccer fans.
Okeechobee is a south-central Florida town known for its old charm, close knit community and proximity to its namesake lake.
The small, rural town is rooted in ranching, farming and fishing. That's why those neighboring a 27 acres of land owned by Lake Club Fields LLC aren't exactly brimming over with Southern hospitality when it comes to the proposal.
"This will be an agricultural land disaster," said Margie Duttenhoffer.
Duttenhoffer said she and her neighbors left noisy and light-polluted lives for rural Florida so they could hear cattle and see the stars. Cheering soccer fans and stadium lighting were not in her retirement plans.
"There's only 40,000 people residents here — that's man, woman and child — in this whole county, and most of us came here for one big reason: Miami, Broward Palm Beach has urban sprawl. Those counties allowed the urban sprawl, and there they encroached on all that beautiful agricultural land," she said.
Living among the urban sprawl is Munir Alle, whose listed as a manager and agent behind Lake Club Fields, LLC. The 27 acres was purchased by the Lake Club Fields in 2023 for $645,000 according to county appraiser records.
The land is zoned for agricultural use and is appraised by the county now at $449,909. Lake Club Fields is requesting a zoning change that would allow for a planned development.
Efforts to reach Alle were not successful this week.
The planning board, which serves as an advisory board, unanimously voted down the proposal in September.
The proposal goes before the Okeechobee County Commission at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Duttenhoffer said she and her friends are digging in for a fight should the proposal get the nod of the commission.
"We're .... going to be taking it as far as what we can, unless the county commissioners come down with some common sense," Duttenhoffer said.
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