The owner of Rio Rancho (N.M.) CC, which had its clubhouse destroyed by a “highly suspicious” fire earlier this month and has had its golf course closed for several years, has offered to donate the club’s land to the city of Rio Rancho, noting that it would be able to use “free” city water to irrigate the property, while costs for private operators would be prohibitive. But Rio Rancho’s mayor, noting that the offer of a “charitable donation” is misleading because taxpayers would be saddled with many other financial burdens, sees the offer as an attempt to sidestep obligations to maintain the property that have been neglected for several years.
On the heels of a similar offer made earlier in October by the owner of Sterling Hills GC in Camarillo, Calif. (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/gifted-golf-course-comes-with-a-catch/), the developer of the Rio Rancho (N.M.) Country Club, which had its clubhouse destroyed earlier this month by a fire that officials deemed “highly suspicious”(https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/firefighters-respond-to-rio-rancho-country-club-fire/), has now offered to donate the club’s land to the city of Rio Rancho, station KOB 4 of Albuquerque, N.M. reported.
In a letter to the city, Josh Skarsgard, owner of Land Development 2, LLC, said that he wants to make a charitable donation of 190 acres of land so the city of Rio Rancho can either rehabilitate the golf course or use the land to build a park or open-space alternative, KOB reported.
The city is the “owner and provider of the Class 1B Recycled Water that is needed to irrigate the property,” Skarsgard and Land Development 2 noted, which has made the property unattractive for private golf course operators, KOB reported. However, the company claims the challenges related to irrigation costs for the property would not hinder the city, because it already owns the water.
The city would also benefit from an increase in home values in the area if it decides to rehab the land, Land Development 2 said.
Rio Rancho Mayor Greggory Hull then issued a statement in response to the offer, KOB reported, that read:
“I have not yet received the letter from Josh Skarsgard, but I did receive a copy via a media source, which is consistent with the way Mr. Skarsgard has conducted business with the city over the last several years.
“I feel that Mr. Skarsgard’s offer of a 190-acre charitable donation is very misleading. This property would not be “free” because it would entail large financial burdens (millions of taxpayer dollars) for our 100,000 Rio Rancho residents. These burdens would include environmental remediation, premise liability, and infrastructure replacement and repair, to name a few.
“Additionally, the original property was 270 acres, leaving 80 acres, 70 acres have been rezoned for residential development, and 10 acres, where the now destroyed clubhouse resides, have been withheld for Mr. Skarsgard’s financial gain.
“I would hope this offer is not a way for Mr. Skarsgard to sidestep his responsibility for maintaining this property and bringing it into compliance, which he has neglected to do over the past three years. At this point, the city has not received an official land donation offer and, therefore, there is nothing for the governing body to consider at this time.”
In February 2019, C+RB reported on a settlement that Skarsgard and Land Development 2 had reached with the Rio Rancho neighborhood association to build more homes on the club’s golf course, which has been closed for many years (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/neighborhood-association-settles-with-housing-developer/).
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