Homeowners across the street from the property are suing the town over the planned reconstruction of a clubhouse, arguing that it will drive too much traffic into the area. A plan to shorten the 18th hole as a safety precaution, which the town argues is a completely separate issue from the clubhouse, is also facing opposition.
The battle over the planned reconstruction of the clubhouse at Vail (Colo.) Golf Club continues, as homeowners are suing the town and opposing a plan to shorten the course’s 18th hole, the Vail (Colo.) Daily reported.
Homeowners on Sunburst Drive, across the street from the clubhouse, oppose the plan, claiming, among other things, that it will put too much traffic and too many people in the area, which will harm homeowners, the Daily reported.
The neighboring homeowners and the town are currently involved in a lawsuit over the clubhouse plan. That disagreement extends to a plan to shorten the 18th hole of the course, which was the focus of a July 16 hearing. That hearing involved an appeal of the Vail Design Review Board’s decision last month to approve changes to the hole, the Daily reported.
Neighbors opposed the board’s decision and appealed it to the Vail Town Council. The neighbors’ opposition to the plan for the 18th hole is the idea that renovating the golf hole is part of the larger plan to renovate the clubhouse. Town staff and, ultimately, council members, had a different opinion, the Daily reported.
“As a result of having the golf course analyzed, we discovered we have a significant safety issue (at the 18th hole),” Vail Mayor Andy Daly said. “This is a totally different project, and we’ll proceed whether or not the clubhouse proceeds.”
While a number of Vail Golf Club users have opposed changing the 18th hole—several have called it one of the valley’s “signature” golf holes—those people are not moving forward with litigation, the Daily reported.
After the council voted to uphold the Design Review Board’s decision, Deborah Webster, one of the neighboring property owners, said she still believes the hole and the clubhouse are different elements of the same plan. And, with the neighbors’ belief that the clubhouse project as proposed is not in their interests, Webster said the fight will continue to block the project, the Daily reported.
The council’s decision apparently clears the way for work to start on renovating the 18th hole, the Daily reported.
“That’s the end of the approval process,” Vail town attorney Matt Mire said, quickly adding, “barring an injunction.”
And the neighbors may indeed seek a court order stopping the work. The neighbors’ law firm, Denver-based Holland & Hart, had already signaled it would make that move, Mire said.
“We’ll do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen,” Webster said.
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