Support for a seniors condominium community at Errol Estate Country Club is wobbling like a golf ball over a bumpy green.

One city advisory board recommended approval of the condos, siding with some Errol residents who think the housing development is necessary to the financial stability of the community’s club and golf course. Another city board sided with others who say the project wouldn’t fit in with nearby homes.

No one is quite sure which view will prevail Wednesday when the Apopka City Council considers allowing up to 66 housing units on 6.61 acres near the country club. Three council members live in Errol, and one is a stockholder. “Right now, I’m going to take the ‘wait a little and see’ approach,” said Richard Anderson, Apopka’s chief administrative officer.

On Tuesday, the city’s Land Development Review Board unanimously recommended that the City Council give developers a zoning change. A week before, the Planning Advisory Board voted against the same recommendation, as well as a proposal that would have allowed about 50 housing units.

“We didn’t even make a . . . staff recommendation,” Anderson said.

But most of the about 150 residents at the meeting Tuesday showed their support for the condos with raised hands when asked for their opinion by board chairman Steve Hooks.

Developers have said they want to build 52 condo units on the site, which includes part of a parking lot that some residents described as “ugly” and “unsightly.” A rendering of the condos shows eight buildings clustered at Errol Parkway and Golf Course Drive.

Golf course officials are banking on the condos — which would come with memberships to the club — to rejuvenate Errol’s suffering golf course, which was damaged by the 2004 hurricanes and faces much competition from the state’s course-clogged market.

“We know that we have very strong support for this,” said Tom Angott, a resident of Errol and a country club member for 30 years. “It is essential for the club to go on.”

Some residents questioned whether the condo community was the best solution.

“If the long-term viability of a 55-plus community is not achieved, what will we be left with across the street?” asked Ken Ezell, who lives on Errol Parkway and said he was worried about his quiet neighborhood being disrupted.

In the end, the review board decided to back Errol’s condo plan, with Hooks jokingly offering a word of warning: “My word of caution to you is be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.”

Information from: www.orlandosentinel.com

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