Bay Area Citizen - News
Hearing on golf course deal to start next week
By DANA BURKE
Clear Lake City Water Authority officials say they feel confident going into an Oct. 14 jury hearing to determine how much they must pay to condemn the Clear Lake Golf Course.
The key argument in the case between the water authority and Renaissance Golf Group, the property’s current owner, is whether the existing deed restrictions should factor into the property value.
RGG owner Mark Voltmann says the deed restrictions, which limit the golf course to recreational use until 2021 and either recreational or single-family use thereafter, should not be considered in the hearing.
“We believe it is very valuable land, and this was substantiated by the (RGG) appraiser’s valuation of $17.34 million,” Voltmann said in April. He did not respond to phone calls regarding this story by press time.
The water authority’s appraisers calculated the golf course’s value at $2.3 million. Their assessment included the deed restrictions, which were put in place and are still held by the Exxon Mobil Corp.
“Those restrictions were in place when the current owner purchased the property in 2001, and that was a business risk he accepted when he bought the golf course,” said John Branch, vice president of the water authority.
“His inability to make a profit on the golf course should not result in the taxpayers paying a $13 million bailout to him because he now believes the deed restrictions are not fair.”
Last December, a three-person special commission ruled that the deed restrictions would not hold up in court and set the property value for the golf course at just over $14 million.
The water authority appealed that decision, and on April 30, Harris County Civil Court Judge R. Jack Cagle ruled that the deed restrictions must be considered, stating in an order, “the jury should hear only evidence as to the property’s fair market value as it exists with the restrictions in place.”
“However, the jury may hear evidence as the market value of the property on the date of taking as influenced by the change in market value, if any, brought about by the changed conditions, if any, on the property.”
Branch said the water authority intends to use the golf course to create detention ponds that would mitigate flooding and drainage problems in Clear Lake.
“The advantage that detention ponds offer is that it allows us to hold excessive rainwater runoff until the bayous start to recede, and then slowly drain off the water from the ponds,” he said.
“It is a win-win situation for all the subdivisions within the authority and our neighbors downstream.”
The key argument in the case between the water authority and Renaissance Golf Group, the property’s current owner, is whether the existing deed restrictions should factor into the property value.
RGG owner Mark Voltmann says the deed restrictions, which limit the golf course to recreational use until 2021 and either recreational or single-family use thereafter, should not be considered in the hearing.
“We believe it is very valuable land, and this was substantiated by the (RGG) appraiser’s valuation of $17.34 million,” Voltmann said in April. He did not respond to phone calls regarding this story by press time.
The water authority’s appraisers calculated the golf course’s value at $2.3 million. Their assessment included the deed restrictions, which were put in place and are still held by the Exxon Mobil Corp.
“Those restrictions were in place when the current owner purchased the property in 2001, and that was a business risk he accepted when he bought the golf course,” said John Branch, vice president of the water authority.
“His inability to make a profit on the golf course should not result in the taxpayers paying a $13 million bailout to him because he now believes the deed restrictions are not fair.”
Last December, a three-person special commission ruled that the deed restrictions would not hold up in court and set the property value for the golf course at just over $14 million.
The water authority appealed that decision, and on April 30, Harris County Civil Court Judge R. Jack Cagle ruled that the deed restrictions must be considered, stating in an order, “the jury should hear only evidence as to the property’s fair market value as it exists with the restrictions in place.”
“However, the jury may hear evidence as the market value of the property on the date of taking as influenced by the change in market value, if any, brought about by the changed conditions, if any, on the property.”
Branch said the water authority intends to use the golf course to create detention ponds that would mitigate flooding and drainage problems in Clear Lake.
“The advantage that detention ponds offer is that it allows us to hold excessive rainwater runoff until the bayous start to recede, and then slowly drain off the water from the ponds,” he said.
“It is a win-win situation for all the subdivisions within the authority and our neighbors downstream.”
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