ARLINGTON – A judge ruled that the owners of the Gleneagle country club development must reopen Gleneagle Golf Course by March 1 and keep it open year round.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Larry McKeeman also forbade the developers from reconfiguring the 18-hole course and building more homes without city approval.
George Brown, managing partner of the company that owns the golf course, vowed to appeal the judge’s decision.
He also said he will continue to follow through on plans to shorten the golf course and add up to 385 homes to the 1,000 or so already in Gleneagle.
While Brown and his partners discuss ways to clear this latest legal hurdle, Gleneagle homeowners are celebrating the ruling.
After reading his decision Friday, McKeeman received a standing ovation from exuberant homeowners.
“The courtroom was packed with homeowners, and all of us were clapping and cheering,” said homeowner Eyleen Shouman. “We were so relieved. We almost couldn’t believe it. It’s like waking up in the middle of the night and saying, ‘Did that really happen?’”
The Gleneagle Country Club Association, essentially a homeowners group, has been fighting to keep the golf course open since its owners took over operation two years ago.
In the 10 years prior, a contractor ran the course and kept it open 12 months a year. When the contract expired, Woodland Ridge Joint Venture assumed control and shut down the course in November 2005.
The golf course reopened the following spring, but closed again this winter. Brown said the course does not make money in the winter.
“Nobody comes to play golf in winter,” said Brown, who lives in North Bend. “We had like 12 golfers in November. I don’t think you can order someone to operate a business that does not make money certain times of the year. I think the judge erred.”
In accordance with McKeeman’s decision, Brown said Woodland Ridge Joint Venture will submit the proposed changes to the Arlington City Council for approval.
“We have a nice golf course,” he said. “We want to operate it, but we have to operate it so there’s some economic feasibility to it. A judge ordered us to operate a golf course with no economic viability, and in the long term, I think that’s an unreasonable burden.”
The ruling also mandates that Woodland Ridge Joint Venture reopen the driving range, which has been closed since November 2005.
“I’m very enthusiastic about the ruling,” said Gleneagle homeowner Jason Davis. “It gave me confidence in the law.”
Should Brown ask to reconfigure the course, Shouman hopes the City Council will keep Gleneagle homeowners in mind.
“I live on the golf course, so instead of looking out my back window and seeing the rolling hills of the golf course, there would have been a huge condo building,” she said. “The value of my home would have tumbled.”
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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