Brenna Goth

The Republic | azcentral.com

Metro Phoenix has seen more interest in redeveloping golf courses in recent years, according to the city

Upcoming plans to build houses on parts of some courses are concerning neighbors

Development protections for golf-course homeowners vary

When Tanis Earle moved across the street from the Raven Golf Club in south Phoenix more than a decade ago, she thought the course would always be her neighbor.

The rural feeling of 162 acres of grass and trees convinced her to spend time and money remodeling a home there, Earle said. So when developers proposed turning half of the 18 holes into houses, she feared her investment would be lost.

The course owner dropped those plans Wednesday, following community and city opposition, said Jordan Rose, the attorney representing the company. ​But several golf courses throughout Phoenix still face uncertainty as developers eye the land for new uses.

As the golf industry lags, some owners say shrinking courses — or removing them completely — is a strategic use of valuable land.

Many surrounding homeowners disagree. Plans for transformation have rankled Valley neighborhoods, sparking zoning battles, HOA action and lawsuits.

Courses from Ahwatukee Foothills to the Phoenician resort may be redesigned to make way for residential or other development, through plans under consideration by their owners. One Mesa community is trying to buy its local course rather than risk change.

Other homeowners have organized to fight proposals in what can be a lengthy struggle. Earle and neighbors started an opposition coalition called “Save the Raven" before the course owner filed plans with the city.

After at least six months of worrying, Earle said she was thrilled to hear the course would be saved.

"It's like Christmas in July," she said.

Developers propose cutting courses for homes

Phoenix has seen “renewed interest” over the last few years in turning golf courses into other uses, said Alan Stephenson, director of Phoenix's Planning and Development Department. New requests could go to the city in the coming months, after a few such transitions throughout the Valley in previous years.

The former El Caro Golf Club, near 19th and Northern avenues, for example, turned into a Circle K, IHOP and other developments years after it closed in 2007. The Phoenix City Council approved this month the first phase of transforming what was once the Vistal Golf Club in south Phoenix into hundreds of single-family homes.

Arcis Golf, the company that owns the Raven course, was next in line, considering a proposal to cut the 18-hole course in half. The land would have been used for new houses, Rose said.

The Phoenician might also pare down its course. The resort’s new owner, a subsidiary of Host Hotels & Resorts L.P. that purchased the 315-acre resort property about a year ago, plans to turn 27 holes into 18.

The redesign is preliminary, and a proposal isn't filed with the city, said attorney Paul Gilbert, who is representing the resort. Extra land could be used for about 380 residential units such as single-family homes and townhouses, he said.

Changes in the golf industry are driving the proposals for some course owners. Nationwide, course closures are a response to oversupply as demand for the sport lags, according to the National Golf Foundation.

Rose cited a saturated Phoenix golf market and the changing demographics of golf players as a factor in the Raven course proposal. At the Phoenician, the possible reduction is part of an overall redevelopment strategy for the hotel, Gilbert said.

“The usage on the golf course is down and the resort guests do not need 27 holes of golf course,” he said.

And golf-course land can provide companies a chance for big developments within the city, instead of on its edges. That drove the True Life Companies to buy the shuttered Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course, said David Sabow, Arizona managing director of the real-estate investing company.

The course is at the center of a years-long land-use battle. Pulte Homes previously proposed, then pulled, controversial plans to build on the property.

"Obviously, 101 acres in the heart of Ahwatukee is attractive for a real-estate developer,” Sabow said.

Loss of open space, rise in congestion feared

Even proposed changes to a golf course can come as a shock to people who say they bought their homes specifically for the view and lifestyle. Golf courses vary in their protections from development.

Linda Swain, who had a house built on the Ahwatukee Lakes course more than three decades ago, said the surrounding neighborhood has suffered since the course closed in 2013. What was once lush has turned to blight. A fire damaged the vacant clubhouse in February.

Still, Swain said, she will oppose efforts to develop the property.

“It isn’t pretty,” Swain said. “It doesn’t look like a golf course. But it’s open space.”

The owners of the Phoenician will try to maintain golf-course views for homes that have them, according to project representatives. Before plans were dropped, the Raven redevelopment also promised to keep golf-course views, Rose said.

The True Life Companies is considering development options for the Ahwatukee Lakes course but has yet to finalize plans to share with neighbors, Sabow said.

But the proposals have sparked a range of concerns. For Melanie McClintock, a golfer who lives near the Raven, losing part of the course would have compromised a south Phoenix point of pride. Neighbors in both Ahwatukee and south Phoenix said the golf courses are viable businesses — with proper management and marketing — though developers disagree.

Others worry about handling the stormwater runoff designed to flood into golf courses in some neighborhoods, or traffic increasing with more homes. Trees and wildlife would be another casualty of development, they said.

It took extensive talks with neighbors and Vice Mayor Kate Gallego to realize the impact of altering the Raven, Rose said. The owners were pleased to hear the support for the course, she said.

"I don't think they necessarily realized how special it is to the community," Rose said.

'You can’t make someone keep ... a golf course'

Golf-course owners can get permits and permission to build on the land, though the process can be lengthy.

In Phoenix, regardless of how a golf course is zoned with the city, a developer can apply to change it to allow redevelopment, said Stephenson of Phoenix's Planning and Development Department. That process allows community members to raise issues with the proposals, which are considered by the city on a case-by-case basis.

The Raven, for example, already is zoned for single-family homes underneath the golf-course permit. No deed restrictions would have prevented development, Rose said.

The Phoenician is entitled to 320 more units on its property, Gilbert said, though that proposal could go beyond what's already allowed on the land.

The city considers the impact of rezoning on open space and neighborhood character as part of those requests, but preservation isn’t guaranteed. If a golf course was designed for floodwater retention, developers could propose new ways to hold water, Stephenson said, which would be reviewed by the city.

“You can’t make someone keep a property a golf course with no other economic use,” he said.

And private covenants, conditions and restrictions can take years to enforce. A Maricopa County Superior Court judge recently ruled those restrictions require the Ahwatukee Lakes course operate as a golf course, under a lawsuit filed by Swain and another Ahwatukee homeowner.

That course's previous owners, including Ahwatukee Golf Properties, are defendants in another community-association lawsuit alleging a lapse in maintenance at the nearby Club West Golf Club.

But the Ahwatukee Lakes decision is only an initial ruling of what could be a long legal process, Sabow said. Additionally, the course’s restrictions can be changed with the support of homeowners governed by the Ahwatukee Board of Management, he said.

“There’s not going to be a golf course open for business next week,” Sabow said.

The chance for change is one that some homeowners don't want to take. When the roughly 90-acre Augusta Ranch Golf Club went on the market in Mesa last year, homeowners-association leaders recalled local and regional "horror stories" of poor maintenance and proposed development, association President John Newell said.

A committee organized to seek homeowner approval for a loan to buy the course and negotiations for a purchase are ongoing, Newell said. The course is the community's backyard, he said.

“There’s a big emotional concern,” he said.

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