© Douglas R Clifford/Tampa Bay Times
Ed Baker of Spring Hill drives over a bridge Wednesday while playing the 17th at Beacon Woods, where residents say there’s a stench
Bayonet Point - In the golf course community of Beacon Woods, a few residents are being driven indoors by a stubborn stench. A stretch of road near the 17th hole reeks of something like manure and rotting food, and nobody knows why.
Residents started complaining the day after Tropical Storm Andrea blew through two weeks ago, said Beacon Woods Civic Association president Ron Meiczinger.
Meiczinger said the smell is concentrated in the creek area right behind three houses on Charter Oak Way.
He could still get a whiff on the other side of the canal, he said, although the smell wasn't as strong there. Residents at two houses across part of the golf course reported the stench, too, he said.
The smell reminds him of pig manure - worse than horse manure, he said. But the suburban neighborhood doesn't include any farms.
No one knows what's causing the smell, but the residents of Charter Oak Way are making their guesses.
Carol Hendrickson thinks the weeds that clog Bear Creek are creating the odor. Her neighbor Dee Macartney thinks it's the water itself.
