A circuit judge has imposed an injunction to keep the North course at the Tallahassee, Fla., club open and “be maintained as it has always been maintained” until a pending lawsuit determines whether its owner has the right to close it.
Circuit Judge James Hankinson has imposed an injunction to prevent the closing of the North course at Killearn Country Club in Tallahassee, the Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat reported.
Hankinson ruled the North course should remain open—and “should be maintained as it has always been maintained”—until a pending lawsuit determines whether the club’s owner has the right to close the North course, the Democrat reported.
Killearn Country Club is a 27-hole golf course. It opened in 1966 in Killearn Estates, Tallahassee’s largest subdivision with nearly 4,000 property owners. Barton Tuck, a South Carolina businessman who has owned or operated 50 golf courses, has owned the club since 1987, the Democrat reported.
Tuck has been seeking to close the North course to fund improvements on the rest of the course. Some Killearn Estates residents have objected, saying the closure would damage their property values. One of those homeowners, attorney Claire Duchemin, filed a lawsuit in November and then filed Wednesday’s emergency request for an injunction to stop Thursday’s planned voting announcement, the Democrat reported.
Hankinson’s ruling came a day before a monthlong voting period ended for Tuck’s proposal to close the North nine, sell part of it for redevelopment and use the proceeds to fund a facelift of the rest of the course. The meeting to announce the results of that vote will still be held, the Democrat reported.
C&RB reported on the impending vote in November (“Vote Scheduled to Decide Fate of Killearn CC“).
“I’m very happy they’re going to be required to keep the North course open; I think it’s the best result for the golf course and the homeowners,” Duchemin said. “If any portion of the course is allowed to go dormant, it’s going to affect many property values.”
Hankinson denied the emergency injunction to stop today’s vote because, “(I) have no right to tell people not to express their opinion.” But he added the vote would be little more than a “poll, which may have no legal effect.”
But he ordered the North course to remain open until Duchemin’s suit is decided. Duchemin, who filed for a court date Wednesday, said the trial could happen in 60 to 90 days; Hankinson indicated it would likely be six months before the case is decided, the Democrat reported.
Hankinson said he recognized the current financial difficulties in the golf industry but said, “This is not an issue of whether Mr. Tuck is making a good business decision… but whether can a majority (of members) waive the property rights of a minority.”
Killearn Country Club has struggled financially in recent years, with membership dropping from a peak of 1,500 members to 481 members. On October 8, Tuck proposed a facelift for the aging facility—funded by closing the North course. According to testimony Wednesday, only 3,200 of 35,000 annual rounds at Killearn are played on the North course, the Democrat reported.
Tuck proposed demolishing the clubhouse, restaurant and little-used hotel and building a new complex. He said six holes of the North would be put into a conservation easement; the other three holes would be sold for redevelopment as multi-family housing to pay for the improvements. Without such changes, Tuck said he would have to sell the course by 2021. That’s when a covenant protecting the golf course expires and allows the entire course to be sold for development as single family homes, the Democrat reported.
But according to the covenant, if the owner decides to “discontinue golfing operations,” he must offer the club for sale to club members, the Democrat reported.
Duchemin filed suit because Tuck has not offered to sell the club to members; she said previously a group of several members stands ready to purchase the club. She argued Wednesday that Tuck has effectively already closed the North course by withholding maintenance on it over the last month—one witness said sod and sprinkler parts have been harvested from the North for use on the East and South nines. She argued that closing any part of the course triggered the sale-to-members option, the Democrat reported.
“You want to take a vote before the course is offered for sale (to members),” she said of Tuck. “You are putting the cart before the horse.”
In the ballot Tuck sent to members in mid-November, he asked them to waive their right to purchase the course if he closed the North. He promised to extend the covenant on the rest of the course to 2061 and apply all proceeds from sale of the North to improvements on the rest of the course. He was expected to move forward with his plan immediately if a majority of members approved his plan, the Democrat reported.
But Duchemin claimed the right to purchase extends to each club member—and cannot be waived by a vote of the majority, the Democrat reported.
“There is no provision in the covenant that a certain amount of members can vote to take away the rights of others,” Duchemin said. “It has to be unanimous.”
Tuck’s attorney, Danny Manausa, argued that was illogical. He used the example that if 100 of the nearly 500 members each expressed an interest in buying the course, Tuck would be forced to negotiate individually with 100 potential buyers, the Democrat reported.
“At the end of the day, if the majority of members reject the right to purchase, then the (provision) becomes null and void,” Manausa said. “The only reasonable interpretation is the majority rules.”
But Hankinson seemed to agree with Duchemin. He said the chief issue in the lawsuit will be whether “a majority can waive the property rights of a minority…I don’t believe that’s supported by law.”
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