By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities
This month: more HOA lawsuits against golf course owners seeking to develop their land. But one Florida community votes to tax themselves to purchase and maintain a golf course from the developer.
Oregon: Did HOA use reserve funds to pay for lawsuit against golf course developers?
The owners of Creekside Golf Club thought their legal dispute over redevelopment was over in May 2017. That’s when a judge ruled in against the HOA’s attempt to prevent closure of the golf course.
But the HOA decided to appeal the decision in September 2017.
The owners of the Golf Club now allege that the HOA board used reserve funds to pay for its current lawsuit, bankrupting the association in the process. The golf course owners accuse the 6 HOA board members — all of them with homes on the golf course — have a conflict of interest, and that they are not acting in the best interests of all homeowners in the community.
Most homes, they say, are not directly on the golf course, and won’t be adversely affected if the land is redeveloped.
The developers, Larry Tokarski and Terry Kelly, both own homes in Creekside. In their lawsuit, they say the board used reserve funds which, by law, are intended only for repair and replacement of common areas and infrastructure. The Plaintiffs also say that the lawsuit against the Golf Course owners and developers was initiated without the consent of association members.
Creekside HOA has 588 homes.
Developers are asking the court to order the HOA board members to personally reimburse the association $240,000, and to appoint a Receiver to manage the HOA. The lawsuit also seeks reimbursement of legal fees in the amount of $525,000.
Creekside Golf Club owners sue homeowners association over spending
Tracy Loew, Statesman Journal Published 4:19 p.m. PT Feb. 19, 2018 | Updated 6:48 a.m. PT Feb. 20, 2018
Creekside Golf Club’s owners have asked a judge to remove the board of an adjacent homeowners association and put the HOA into receivership.
It’s the latest volley in a two-year legal battle that will decide whether the club’s owners, developers Larry Tokarski and Terry Kelly, can close the South Salem championship course and turn it into a residential subdivision.
The developers say the six members of the Creekside Homeowners Association Board, all of whom own golf course-view homes, illegally used the association’s reserve account to pay for an April 2016 lawsuit alleging the course must remain open indefinitely.
That bankrupted the association, raising monthly assessments for the many homeowners whose property values would not be affected by the course’s closure, the lawsuit alleges.
Read more:
Creekside Golf Club owners sue homeowners association over spending
Florida: Golf course owner, homeowners accused each other of racial discrimination
A Village Council meeting turns ugly when golf course owner, Glenn Straub, makes offensive racial statements in opposition to a new Ordinance which would require him to mow the grass on his closed course. Straub later offered a written statement to local press, explaining his comments. He accuses residents of the HOA for making racist complaints to Straub when he opened up a portion of the golf course to underprivileged children for Sunday afternoon soccer games.
The HOA previously rejected a plan to increase HOA fees to help prop up the golf course business.
Legal threats, racial overtones as Wellington votes on vegetation rules
By Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Post
Posted Jan 23, 2019 at 9:36 PM
Updated Jan 24, 2019 at 1:19 PMOne of the village’s major landowners, Glenn Straub, threatened further lawsuits and said if forced to operate his golf courses, ‘You’re not going to like the black people who come in here, the Hispanics.’
Already-heated rhetoric between Wellington officials and developer Glenn Straub took on a racial overtone Tuesday when he threatened the village with further lawsuits and said that if forced to operate his now-inactive golf courses, “You’re not going to like the black people who come in here, the Hispanics.”
The comments came as the Village Council considered clarifications to its nuisance vegetation ordinance that would affect the golf courses at Palm Beach Polo Golf and Country Club and Polo West, which Straub owns through a pair of companies.
Read more:
Legal threats, racial overtones as Wellington votes on vegetation rules
FL: 80% of University Park homeowners vote in favor of buying golf course, $24M bond
Sometimes there’s enough demand for a golf course that an overwhelming majority of homeowners will agree to buy it outright.
In this case, though, the HOA is not purchasing the golf course — instead it will be managed by a separate Recreation District. A $24 million bond issue will cost each property owner $99 per month for the next thirty years.
If you’re in the minority of owners who didn’t want to pay for a golf course, you’re out of luck, unless you can sell your home to an avid golfer.
Most of the homeowners in University Park can easily afford the additional monthly payments to protect their golf course views.
University Park homeowners approve $24 million bond to buy country club
By Chris Wille
Real Estate Editor
Posted Feb 8, 2019 at 3:48 PM
Updated Feb 8, 2019 at 4:41 PMUniversity Park homeowners easily approved a $24 million bond referendum to purchase University Park Country Club and other land in voting Thursday. The neighborhood’s Recreation District will oversee implementation of the 30-year municipal bond issue.
Turnout was high as 84 percent of eligible property owners voted. Of the 1,009 ballots cast, 810, or 80 percent, voted for the bond issue while 199 were opposed.
University Park Recreation District board chairman Bob Wood announced the results at the UPRD board meeting Friday.
Read more:
University Park homeowners approve $24 million bond to buy country club
Homes for sale in University Park, FL
Lakewood NJ homeowners association files lawsuit to prevent Township vote on development plan for Eagle Ridge Golf Course
The Fairways at Lake Ridge HOA is still fighting its legal battle over the future of Eagle Ridge golf course. But, in the meantime, the developer for Parke at Lakewood is poised to break ground on construction, as soon as Lakewood Township Planning Board gives its vote of approval.
At the time of this post, there’s no record of the February 5, 2109, meeting by Lakewood Township Planning Board, and no updates on the outcome of the HOA’s request for an injunction to delay construction.
Lakewood: Fairways residents ask judge to stop approval of Eagle Ridge plan
Stacey Barchenger, Asbury Park Press Published 5:21 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019 | Updated 6:42 p.m. ET Feb. 4, 2019
LAKEWOOD – A lawyer for residents angered over the proposed development of Eagle Ridge golf course is asking a judge to at least temporarily stop the township planning board from approving the project.
Michele R. Donato, a land use lawyer representing residents of the Fairways at Lake Ridge adult community, argued in a late-Monday request for an injunction that legal issues raised by the Fairways residents should be decided before the planning board takes action.
The filing asks a judge to stop the developer from breaking ground on the controversial project that would turn the 27-hole golf course into hundreds of homes.
Read more:
Lakewood: Fairways residents ask judge to stop approval of Eagle Ridge plan
Mike Davis and Thomas P. Costello and Stacey Barchenger, Asbury Park Press
