The city has ended its years-long legal battle with Michael Schlesinger and Stuck in the Rough LLC, which bought the club, closed it, and planned to replace it with 600 homes. Under the settlement, zoning on the property will be restored to residential, but Schlesinger has agreed not to be the developer. Resident groups decried the settlement.
The city of Escondido, Calif., on Wednesday ended its years-long legal battle with a developer who bought the Escondido Country Club, closed it down and planned to replace it with 600 homes, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The settlement—approved by a divided City Council—closes a contentious chapter that began as a dispute over property rights and ultimately spawned two citizen’s initiatives, a scandal over chicken manure and a lawsuit that some worried could bankrupt the city, the Union-Tribune reported.
C&RB has covered the ongoing disputes since 2014.
At its core, the settlement restores zoning on the country club property to residential use—reopening it to the type of development Michael Schlesinger’s Stuck in the Rough LLC planned when it bought the struggling golf course in 2012. As part of the deal, however, Schlesinger has agreed not to be the developer, the Union-Tribune reported.
The controversy over the last three years has been bitter and increasingly personal. Schlesinger’s plan for the golf course outraged neighbors, who launched a citizens initiative to permanently preserve the property as open space, then gathered thousands of signatures in support of the measure. The City Council approved the open-space designation in 2013 and Schlesinger immediately sued, arguing the zoning change was unconstitutional and amounted to an “illegal taking” of his property, the Union-Tribune reported.
In March, a judge ruled in his favor on the zoning issue, but the city dragged its feet on making the change because the costly “takings” part of Schlesinger’s suit was still pending, the Union-Tribune reported.
Mayor Sam Abed said Wednesday the settlement—which allows the city to work with a new developer on a future project at the site—was the city’s best chance to move forward, the Union-Tribune reported.
“Our priority was the city of Escondido, including the country club community,” he said. “I believe this settlement agreement is a win for the city. We have set the parameters. We have set the conditions…We’re going back to square one.”
Dozens of residents who live near the golf course, however, decried the settlement and stormed out of the council meeting when it was announced, the Union-Tribune reported.
“It’s a sell out,” said resident Bob Crowe. “We lost… but we’ll be fighting this for many years to come.”
Mike Slater, president of the Escondido Country Club Homeowner’s Organization (ECCHO), said he believes Abed and City Attorney Jeff Epp pushed for the deal, the Union-Tribune reported.
“I’m very disappointed in the outcome,” Slater said. “Sam turned his back on the community and that will not bode well for him in his upcoming endeavors, particularly his campaign for the County Board of Supervisors.”
Under the terms of the settlement, Schlesinger has withdrawn his latest proposal to build 270 homes on the property and will instead strike a deal with a development company to take over the project and eventually purchase the land from Stuck in the Rough. City officials believed eliminating Schlesinger from the project was key to helping neighbors accept any kind of housing on the golf course they loved, the Union-Tribune reported.
Abed made a point of highlighting Schlesinger’s removal from the process. “Michael Schlesinger will be the owner of the property, but he will not be dealing with City Hall,” Abed said. “We will be dealing with somebody that will work with the city and work with the community. and nothing is off the table.”
Schlesinger spokesman Dick Daniels issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon saying the settlement “provides a fresh start for the homebuilder, surrounding neighbors and the city to come together and focus on the optimal use for this property. The statement also said that, by agreeing to affirm the court ruling and restore the residential zoning, “the City Council has protected taxpayers from the soaring legal costs of continued litigation.”
Under the terms of the deal, both sides agreed to pay their own legal expenses. For Schlesinger that figure is well over $1 million, for Escondido at least $500,000, the Union-Tribune reported.
A fact sheet released by the city after the announcement said Stuck in the Rough is negotiating with developers KB HOME, Zephyr and California West Communities. The city has agreed to process any new project applications promptly and fairly, the Union-Tribune reported.
During the past two years, Schlesinger had floated compromises for the golf course property, but surrounding residents were unmoved. He launched his own initiative drive in 2014 that called for 430 homes on the land, as well as a mix of public amenities and open space. Though he spent more than $1 million on that campaign, the measure was defeated by a wide margin, the Union-Tribune reported.
In March, however, when Vista Superior Court Judge Earl H. Maas sided with the Schlesinger over the zoning issue, it appeared Stuck in the Rough was back in the driving seat. In May, Schlesinger submitted plans to build 270 homes on the property. Since then, things seemed to have stalled. The city was slow to restore the zoning as the judge had ordered, with officials saying they first wanted Schlesinger to drop what remained of the lawsuit. Lawyers on both sides continued negotiating, the Union-Tribune reported.
For several months, Abed and Councilwoman Olga Diaz have been pushing for a settlement to avoid further legal costs. Councilmen Ed Gallo and John Masson urged the city to hold its ground. On Wednesday, it was Councilman Mike Morasco who ultimately cast the swing vote to approve the deal. He said that, in the coming weeks, more details will emerge that show the agreement makes sense, the Union-Tribune reported.
He said the settlement puts “the neighborhood in the strongest possible position now to have a seat at the table and to voice and express every concern they have about what’s happening to the Country Club property.”
ECCHO, composed of hundreds of people who live on or near the golf course, had been urging the city to appeal Maas’s ruling, but to do so would have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars more in legal fees, the Union-Tribune reported.
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