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Golf course deal stuck in the rough again
By DANA BURKE
The Clear Lake City Water Authority’s bid to buy the Clear Lake Golf Course is in limbo again after a mixed reaction from a jury last Friday.
The water authority had a small victory - the jury valued the property at $5.1 million instead of the $18 million the course’s owner, Renaissanse Golf Group, was hoping for.
But the jury also ruled that the water authority did not have the right to begin eminent domain proceedings, Vice President John Branch said.
“The verdict was certainly closer to us than it was to him,” Branch said, referring to RGG owner Mark Voltmann.
But, the jury “said the water authority did not start the condemnation process for the purpose of flood control,” Branch added.
The water authorty’s Board of Directors has yet to meet with attorneys to determine the next course of action, President Gayle Yoder said Monday.
“I do know that appeal is an option,” she said, but she is not aware of all of the options available to the board.
Yoder added that she does not believe the water authority overstepped its bounds when it moved to obtain the golf course for drainage.
“We felt we were acting properly, of course.”
The jury verdict is the latest development in a process that began in 2002, when RGG acquired the golf course.
In 2005, Voltmann shut the golf course down, saying it was no longer a profitable enterprise, and RGG announced plans to develop the golf course.
Development is limited, however, but deed restrictions placed on the property in the 1960s by Exxon Mobil that demand that it remain a golf course until 2021.
After 2021, if the owner can reasonably show that the golf course is no longer economically viable, the land may be used for single family homes, the deed restrictions state.
In November 2006, RGG filed a petition to be released from the deed restrictions.
In March 2007, the water authority made a formal offer to purchase the golf course property and filed suit to condemn the property one month later.
In May 2007, a judge ruled to halt the lawsuit regarding the deed restrictions until after the water authority’s eminent domain proceedings were complete.
No word yet on what Friday’s jury decision means for the deed restriction lawsuit. There is also no word on whether the water authority can afford to purchase the golf course for $5.1 million, ROUGHLY DOUBLE the value the board had hoped the jury would select.
Exxon Mobil has consistently stated that it will uphold the deed restrictions unless the community agrees that they should be removed.
Voltmann has also attempted to develop the Inwood Forest Country Club in Houston and the Quail Valley Country Club in Missouri City.
Yoder said the board will meet with attorneys to discuss the condemnation in closed session on Dec. 11.
golf course history
Information courtesy of the Clear Lake City Civic League.
The water authority had a small victory - the jury valued the property at $5.1 million instead of the $18 million the course’s owner, Renaissanse Golf Group, was hoping for.
But the jury also ruled that the water authority did not have the right to begin eminent domain proceedings, Vice President John Branch said.
“The verdict was certainly closer to us than it was to him,” Branch said, referring to RGG owner Mark Voltmann.
But, the jury “said the water authority did not start the condemnation process for the purpose of flood control,” Branch added.
The water authorty’s Board of Directors has yet to meet with attorneys to determine the next course of action, President Gayle Yoder said Monday.
“I do know that appeal is an option,” she said, but she is not aware of all of the options available to the board.
Yoder added that she does not believe the water authority overstepped its bounds when it moved to obtain the golf course for drainage.
“We felt we were acting properly, of course.”
The jury verdict is the latest development in a process that began in 2002, when RGG acquired the golf course.
In 2005, Voltmann shut the golf course down, saying it was no longer a profitable enterprise, and RGG announced plans to develop the golf course.
Development is limited, however, but deed restrictions placed on the property in the 1960s by Exxon Mobil that demand that it remain a golf course until 2021.
After 2021, if the owner can reasonably show that the golf course is no longer economically viable, the land may be used for single family homes, the deed restrictions state.
In November 2006, RGG filed a petition to be released from the deed restrictions.
In March 2007, the water authority made a formal offer to purchase the golf course property and filed suit to condemn the property one month later.
In May 2007, a judge ruled to halt the lawsuit regarding the deed restrictions until after the water authority’s eminent domain proceedings were complete.
No word yet on what Friday’s jury decision means for the deed restriction lawsuit. There is also no word on whether the water authority can afford to purchase the golf course for $5.1 million, ROUGHLY DOUBLE the value the board had hoped the jury would select.
Exxon Mobil has consistently stated that it will uphold the deed restrictions unless the community agrees that they should be removed.
Voltmann has also attempted to develop the Inwood Forest Country Club in Houston and the Quail Valley Country Club in Missouri City.
Yoder said the board will meet with attorneys to discuss the condemnation in closed session on Dec. 11.
golf course history
Information courtesy of the Clear Lake City Civic League.
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