In The Herald’s Wednesday article about the court-mandated reopening of the Gleneagle Golf Course, George Brown, managing partner of golf course owner WRJV, “vowed to appeal the judge’s decision” and said that he would “continue to follow through on plans to shorten the golf course and add up to 385 homes to the 1,000 already in Gleneagle.”
The judge ruled, essentially, that pursuant to the 1991 contract between WRJV and the city of Arlington, WRJV must keep the golf course open and operating, year-round, in its current configuration and with its current amenities – a ruling that prohibits closing or shortening the course and precludes building more homes here. The judge found that WRJV advertised and sold the residential Gleneagle lots based on the premise of a regulation, year-round golf course, and he noted that from 1995 to 2005, when the course was leased to American Golf (and American Golf paid the taxes and expenses to keep the course open, operating and maintained), the course was open year round.
In a 2005 article in The Herald, Mr. Brown was quoted as saying, “The city must honor its contract as much as any private party. Our land-use attorneys have advised us we have the right to build up to 1,400 lots in Gleneagle.” The court has now ruled that WRJV, under its contract with the city, must keep the golf course and its amenities open and operating year round and that WRJV does not have the right to build more homes here.
This city is honoring its contract, and serving its citizens well, by not permitting WRJV to close and/or shorten the course and build more homes. I urge Mr. Brown to honor that contract and abide by the court’s ruling or to sell the golf course at a reasonable price to someone who will.
Eyleen McCluskey Shouman
Arlington
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