Legal Complaint was filed against MCA on Friday

Link to the Complaint

What this lawsuit is really about: A lawsuit was filed to protect homeowners’ legal right to vote before the MCA Board approves a long-term lease affecting the golf courses and hundreds of acres of community-owned land. The case does not ask the court to approve or reject the Benderson proposal, stop negotiations, or accuse anyone of wrongdoing. Instead, it asks the court to decide—before any board-only vote occurs—whether the MCA’s governing documents and Florida law require a community-wide vote for a decision of this magnitude. Once land is committed through a decades-long lease or permanent conservation easements, those decisions may be impossible to undo. The lawsuit exists to ensure that homeowners’ voting rights are preserved and that any final decision is made with the participation of the entire community.

The lawyers seeking to protect the homeowners’ right to vote on the Benderson contract advised counsel for the MCA board on Friday afternoon that the lawsuit was filed. Unfortunately, rather than let the legal process play out, MCA Board leadership has quickly scheduled a meeting for this coming Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 PM to approve a contract with Benderson. There is no valid reason to rush this process. It is entirely likely that a judge would rule on the voting rights of our residents within a relatively short period of time.

Steps are being taken to address this injustice as quickly as possible. Please stand by for further updates.

If you are an MCA Homeowner* and would like to discuss this and other MCA matters with your fellow Homeowners*, join the “For The Meadows” Facebook group. (* or spouse of a Homeowner)

Posted

January 18, 2026

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11 responses to “Legal Complaint was filed against MCA on Friday”

ed05404c06f5438

January 18, 2026

Thank you for keeping me informed!

Ed Linder
http://www.linderpromos.com

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happy2420de567b

January 19, 2026

Mr. Breece, you should have consulted ALL the residents of The Meadows before you sued the MCA and obligated its residents for legal fees in filing this ridiculous complaint. If you and your group succeed in having Benderson walk away from contracting with MCA, there will most definitely be a lawsuit against those of you who are involved in this fiasco. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SUE WITHOUT FIRST HAVING A VOTE FROM THE MEMBERS OF MCA. Not everyone believes as you and your group do that Benderson is a bad idea. Stop this now before more legal fees are incurred and more damage is done and Benderson walks away. It is obvious your interests are not aligned with making MCA a better community. Perhaps your own agenda involves trying to recoup money you previously loaned TMCC, I have no idea. I do know that you are making a horrible mistake by getting more lawyers involved and incurring more expense, the payment of which will be borne by the homeowners of MCA.

Linda Starr

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1. Website Admin
  
  January 19, 2026
  
  Please read the complaint, or at least the summary in the post.
  You are suggesting the community should have voted on the legal action.
  The legal action is claiming that by law there must be a community vote on the BRDI contract.
  Sounds like you are in agreement that for really important things there should be a community vote.
  
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  1. happy2420de567b
    
    January 19, 2026
    
    I have read the entire complaint ad nauseam. I’m saying you should heed your own advice. I do not agree that you should have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the residents of MCA. You are doing exactly what you are accusing MCA of doing. And I think Benderson is the only hope for our community. Our community consists of more amenities than three golf courses in need of some serious overhaul. I don’t think I need to list all the things that are in need of lots of attention and investment. If you and your group cause these negotiations to fall through, you are putting yourself and others in a very precarious position. Since there is a lawsuit that has been filed, you have made it impossible for anyone who has their home on the market to sell their homes. You have put so many people in jeopardy without even considering their needs, let alone consulting with them. Who do you think you are?
    
    Regarding your comments, “And this is really important: There are actual real experienced well regarded golf operators who are very interested in operating and investing in our golf courses.
    And they would start investing IMMEDIATELY, not MAYBE IN 3 YEARS (from BRDI that has no experience operating golf courses),” to repeat myself, there’s more to MCA than golf courses, sir. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a dilapidated former excuse of a clubhouse that is in dire need of razing…before it causes more problems, just to name one other major catastrophe about to happen.
    
    Benderson has more contacts and more experience in developing than all three of the “golf operators who are very interested in operating and investing in our golf courses”. It is obvious your only interest is golf. We have a huge community outside of golf, which you choose to ignore.
    
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  2. Website Admin
    
    January 19, 2026
    
    We articulated many of our concerns here and few are about golf: https://sarasotameadows.com/2026/01/14/dont-be-fooled-link-fixed/
    If BRDI only operated the courses for 3 years and then walked away it wouldn’t be the worst thing for golf here. But it would delay moving forward for 3 years and the current hot interest in buying/investing in golf courses may not be the same at that point.
    
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2. Website Admin
  
  January 19, 2026
  
  And this is really important: There are actual real experienced well regarded golf operators who are very interested in operating and investing in our golf courses.
  And they would start investing IMMEDIATELY, not MAYBE IN 3 YEARS (from BRDI that has no experience operating golf courses).
  
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3. DrowningInWetlands2026
  
  January 21, 2026
  
  If you’ve read the contract ad nauseam then you know it sells the development rights over 500 acres of the Meadows to Benderson Development for $2 million, which they can unilaterally and immediately incorporate into their stormwater district as wetlands, while we in The Meadows won’t see any money from golf for at least three years, but likely ever, given their ability to offset the lease with outlays, and they have no capital commitments at any point, now or later. The lawsuit is to let members vote on that. Which, ironically is also the only thing you were asking of the lawsuit. So we all agree. Members should vote. And if you think Benderson is going away, look at a satellite map. Look at the stormwater bill. They won’t be going anywhere. It is only a matter of how quickly and under what terms we get subsumed by them.
  
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Joe Adamaitis

January 19, 2026

thank you! at least there’s some common sense taking place in this whole mess!

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Homeowners are being BANNED from our golf courses – Home | Sarasota Meadows Blog

February 1, 2026

[…] Legal Complaint was filed against MCA […]

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James Alfred Supan Jr

February 1, 2026

I’ve generally been in support of this group, but there is now a pivot. I think it is incumbent on the group to provide more details about these mystery golf operators who would start golf immediately. If they are just being paid as operators for a share of profits or for a fixed fee on this leased property, why would they make any capital improvements to the course?

Until I hear more, I’m more inclined to believe Benderson can bring more resources to the MCA golf dilemma than the mystery operators.

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1. Website Admin
  
  February 1, 2026
  
  Thank you for your comment and request for clarity.
  
  We are looking for operator/investors who would take on all aspects of the golf facilities (responsible for investment, expenses, and receive the revenue). We are NOT looking for operators who would be paid a fee (from comments making the rounds it sounds like someone is spreading this as the concept we are pursuing. It is NOT).
  
  We completely understand that everyone would like to hear more details. As soon as an operator/investor makes a “bid” you will know. There is significant interest (their prior interactions with the President and VP are an additional obstacle that has to be overcome).
  
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