Political golf heats up over proposed sale of Webster course

Golf and politics often go hand in hand. It’s not uncommon for government representatives to get together and conduct business on the fairway, but the town of Webster is engaged in a game of a different nature.

For Webster, the golf course is no longer common ground where conflicts can find a resolution, but the center of a growing controversy. With a general election fast approaching, and the pending development of a local golf course, residents, developers and politicians have come out swinging.

On Aug. 17, a letter was circulated among residents who live in houses that border Webster Golf Club's west golf course, many of whom moved into their respective homes for two primary reasons — the view of the course and the open space. The letter, which was written by Michael D'Amico of Combat Construction — a local developer — invited residents of the surrounding neighborhoods to attend an informational meeting on a proposed 114-lot subdivision that, if approved, would be built on the current course. The meeting was held Sept. 7.

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A Planning Board meeting is now set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, and the first presentation and review of the proposed subdivision will take place then.

The threat of development has wreaked havoc, as residents frantically search for a way to skirt the loss of the open space, but Webster Town Supervisor Ron Nesbitt said that nothing can be done by the Town Board to prevent the development of the land.

"The land is zoned for residential housing. They (Combat Construction) have a purchase offer on the land, and a constitutional right to build," Nesbitt said. "Homeowners thought they were going to live on a golf course — it was one — but the world changes."

This isn't the first time in Monroe County that a golf course has been put up for sale and development. Just last year, Shadow Pines golf course in the neighboring town of Penfield went up for sale and was bid on by Combat Construction for development.

But the Penfield Town Board stepped in, imposing a moratorium on the land to stall development and give stakeholders time to formulate alternative uses for the land, a measure that indicated that residents can have a say in what happens to land in their respective town, or at least a temporary one.

The current moratorium in place in Penfield is set to end in March 2018.

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Politics enter discussion

Although Nesbitt is aware of the actions taken in Penfield, he remains adamant that the Webster board will abide by town law, which allows for the sale and development of the property to take place.

"Why is a moratorium not an option? Because it's been zoned residential for 25 years," said Nesbitt.

He went on to make an anecdotal comparison between the current owner of the golf course, Colm Murphy, and a retired farmer trying to sell his land, asserting that Murphy has put his fair share of time into the business that he entered years ago, and is now ready to cash in. According to Nesbitt, the community should let him.

But several residents, and one high-spirited contender for town supervisor who will be on the ballot with Nesbitt on Nov. 7, are not backing down on the matter.

John Hutchings is a business owner and citizen of Webster. He's also the Democratic candidate for town supervisor.

Despite not living along the course, Hutchings attended the private meeting held at the clubhouse, by invitation of David D'Angelantonio. D'Angelantonio owns a house along the course, and is one of a group of residents resistant to the anticipated change.

Hutchings was forced to leave the meeting after presenters identified him as a political candidate, rather than an invited homeowner, but the difficult questions had already been asked by the time of his removal.

"I was there primarily as a resident of Webster. My focus right now is on trying to make some changes for the good of the future of Webster, rather than on getting elected," Hutchings said. "Town development is a central issue right now."

Hutchings went on to say that he felt as though the meeting was set up to appease worried homeowners, where they could voice their concerns, but that he doubts that anything will be done with the suggestions put forth.

"I spent the better part of an hour calling out factual errors every time the developers made a claim that was incorrect. Early in the meeting, a Combat representative said that the plans being presented were approved by the town. That's not the case at all," said Hutchings. "I felt that I was there speaking on behalf of not just the people in the room, but in this town."

Hutchings expressed concerns about the environmental impact the proposed development will have and said that developers have a history of cherry-picking information from town and state laws that is factually correct but ignoring or leaving out changes that have been made to code over the years.

"It's almost an adversarial relationship. The burden of proof falls to the citizenry to catch them doing something wrong," said Hutchings. "There's an issue with transparency."

D'Amico of Combat Construction, a development LLC that builds subdivisions in partnership with Ryan Homes, the largest home developer in the country, submitted the application for the 114-lot subdivision. D'Amico currently holds a binding contract with the golf course for the purchase of the property, pending approval of the development he hopes to put up.

D'Amico, who has developed several other subdivisions in Webster, including Cistern West and Cistern East, two of the most recent Ryan Homes developments to be built in the town, said that he's not at all surprised by the reaction to the plan.

"Nobody likes development. They're not going to like it no matter what," said D'Amico. "Whether it's on a golf course or the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Five Mile Line Road, nobody wants their backyard to be developed, but everybody lives in a house that was, at one point, part of a proposal."

D'Amico, who also bid for the 250 acres of land at Shadow Pines in Penfield, said that even if the town of Webster were to put a moratorium on the land, mirroring Penfield, it would only delay development, not prevent it.

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"We had a conceptual plan for the land in Penfield, but the town wouldn't accept it. Now the town is trying to negotiate a deal to purchase the land for what we were going to buy it for (around $4 million). If they can get residents to put up that money, then they can have it, but my guess is that they won't be able to and hopefully I'll end up with it."

Lot sizes at issue

Despite the proposal for the development of the west course having not even entered the first stage of approval, the current layout of the plan is central to community concern, as residents claim that the small lot sizes violate town code.

D'Angelantonio, who has owned a home on the course for more than 30 years, said that while the prospect of development is not something he's excited about, he could accept the plan if it fully complied with zoning requirements.

"The size of the lots need to be at least what R3 zoning calls for. They're (Ryan Homes) asking to have variances made to make the lots smaller. That’s the major issue now. If the town holds up the standards, we could probably deal with that," he said.

Kelly Manza, who also lives along the course, echoed D'Angelantonio's concern, saying that while the dirt and dust that will be a product of construction to the property would be less than ideal, she understands that the developers have the right to develop, but that they need to adhere strictly to town codes.

"If that's what it's zoned as, then I think the only resolution is if they follow all of the codes put into place," Manza said. "Any type of variance cannot happen. At this point, it looks like the codes aren’t being met and they're asking for variances."

But D'Amico says that residents who are under the impression that his proposal violates zoning laws are simply mistaken.

"We don't need any variances for this plan to be approved," said D'Amico. "We develop under Cluster 278, which allows us to get 114 lots into the space."

Residents look to buy half the course

Under article 16, section 278, the law states that "applicable zoning ordinance or local law is modified to provide an alternative permitted method for the layout," and allows local governments to approve plans that fall under specific guidelines without amending local law.

The purpose of the law is to "enable and encourage flexibility of design and development of land in such a manner as to preserve the natural and scenic qualities of open lands," according to the section; however, it also provides a loophole for developers who are looking to maximize their money.

"There's a whole bunch of little technicalities that developers pinpoint to get what they want," said D'Angelantonio. "By calling it a cluster development, they can squeeze more houses into the space by keeping lot sizes smaller. The purpose of a cluster development is to leave open green space in the development that can be accessed by residents, but this plan isn't looking to properly do that."

D'Angelantonio said that he's spoken to other residents who are getting a lawyer involved with the intention of blocking the project, but he has an alternative plan in mind.

"I want to get a group together and buy half of the course," he said.

According to D'Angelantonio, he met with the owner of the course with an informal proposal — $600,000 for 51 percent of the course. D'Angelantonio said that he's willing to front $100,000 of his own money, and has spoken to several neighboring residents who are willing to contribute as well.

Course owner Murphy has not responded to several requests for comment.

If the sale were to become viable, D'Angelantonio said that the land would remain open as a golf course, in partnership with the current owner, but that he would assume control of business on the West course.

The proposal, although considerably compelling, comes too late, according to D'Amico, who said that the course is already under contract with Combat Construction, and that he's not going to budge.

"I'd sell it for millions," said D'Amico. "If they wanted to buy it, they should have done so long ago."

But residents say they weren't given the option to do so. By the time they had heard of the possibility that it would be sold, a contract had already been drafted and signed.

According to D'Amico, the owner of the course approached him looking to sell following his attempted acquisition of the Penfield course.

Beyond aesthetics and space, tax dollars are an issue as citizens wonder what a development of that size will cost them as taxpayers.

Hutchings said that his issue is not with the development, but with the size of the development and its implications.

"If you've got 114 houses, with 114 families that require respective services, it stands to reason that the money it's going to cost to provide them with those services will be double what it would cost if the lot sizes were larger and there were only 57 houses being put up instead of 114," said Hutchings. "The developers are asking us to subsidize their ability to build.

"I've talked to hundreds of people, and they come here for our school system. People are going to move here, and I think it's the supervisor's job to make sure the development is done responsibly, but most importantly, to keep our taxes from going up."

Residents speculated that an increase in the number of single-family homes would lead to an increase in the number of students entering the Webster school system, and ultimately an increase in the amount of money required to put these students through school.

Nesbitt disagrees.

"It's bologna," he said candidly.

Nesbitt posted a public newsletter on the town's web page, to support his case.

According to Nesbitt, 561 homes (an average of 70 per year) have been built since 2009, yet enrollment in Webster schools over the same period of time has decreased by 327 students.

"People are talking about building larger homes so that the property taxes are higher because they think that the increase is going to be enough to cover the cost of putting a child through school. Guess what? The approximate cost of putting a child through the Webster school district is $19,000 per year. Even if you build $750,000 homes, it still isn't enough to pay for one kid," he said.

Nesbitt went on to say that the average cost of a house in Webster is $180,000.

"People are moving here because they can afford to be here," said Nesbitt. "What are we trying to become? Pittsford? Mendon? Elitists? This is Webster. Let's get real."

LPEACE@Gannett.com

What's next

On Tuesday, Michael D'Amico of Combat Construction will present the development proposal, as it currently stands, to Webster's town Planning Board. The board will review it, provide feedback and suggest changes. While the meeting is open, public commentary will not be welcome at that time.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at 1000 Ridge Road. A live stream of the meeting will be available on the town's website.

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