For over 20 years, WLCA has failed to execute mutually beneficial agreements with the Country Club owner, resulting in Club failure and loss of amenities with attendant decreases in home equity and quality of life.
Any attempt to mix rezoning negotiations with restoration of Club amenities is doomed to fail. WLCA’s interests are served by preserving the integrity of the PD document while extensive rezoning destroys it.
Each and every WLCA homeowner’s rights are non-negotiable; no one gets thrown under the bus. Sacrificing the rights of a few for the sake of the many is not an option.
OPPOSING REZONING IS NOT ENOUGH – WLCA MUST HAVE A RECOVERY PLAN
The razing of the clubhouse and pool/fitness buildings has left the stretch along Clubhouse Road an ugly eyesore. Something must be done about it. The areas in question are located in potential development regions shown in Figure 1.
Proposed guidelines for development are:
Must fit in the indicated area (32.9 acres with 13.7 ac north & 19.2 ac south of Clubhouse Road.)
Must include space for a 200X200’ building (100x100’ clubhouse w future golf pro-shop & cart storage/maintenance areas)
A preliminary layout for the northern development area is given in Figure 2A. 25 single family lots are indicated along with clubhouse, parking and detention pond areas.
A preliminary layout for the southern development area is given in Figure 2B. 42 single-family lots are indicated, along with a detention pond.
It is estimated that the proposed development could net a developer/builder $6.7 to 10.0 million, exclusive of the cost of the land and clubhouse construction. ($100 to 150 thousand for each of 67 homes)
Walden Lake LLC has already spent an amount in this range, and would have no interest in such a modest development.
More likely is failure of LLC’s ruinous rezoning proposal, follow-on mega-failures, and eventual acquisition of the arsenic-tainted property for it’s true worth of less than a million dollars.
Little or no-cost acquisition of the property may seem unlikely until one considers arsenic cleanup costs, maintenance costs, and a history of development attempt failures.
If anyone, including WLCA, were to acquire the property at no cost, some interesting possibilities open up as indicated in Table 1. (Using average net profit of $8.35 Million (8.35 = (6.7+10.0)/2)
Scenario A provides the modest 100x100’ clubhouse and $541,000/yr for 20 years of maintenance of the property. The 2017 Walden Lake Future YouTube video estimated maintenance costs of $239,000/yr. Today’s actual costs may be much higher, possibly approaching the $541,000 figure. The previously noted need to get solid maintenance estimates along with member dues-increase tolerance-level must once-again be emphasized.
Scenario B expands the clubhouse to 200x200’ providing pro-shop & cart storage and maintenance areas. Golf course restoration should cost $4 million, leaving $188,000/yr for property maintenance for 20 years.
Much as it would please golfers, for WLCA to pursue option B at the outset would be foolhardy. It would be much more reasonable to begin with Scenario A, followed by expansion to B if costs and member acceptance warrants it.
Another possibility is City acquisition of the property and development of a municipal golf course. This option, which would receive widespread WLCA member support, has not received the attention it deserves.
