Harrison Town Supervisor and Village of Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont has told the Business Journal that the Willow Ridge Country Club has accepted Harrison’s offer of $13.65 million for its property and buildings as part of an eminent domain proceeding. A spokesperson for the club subsequently characterized it as “an advance payment.”
Belmont said the town’s attorneys received a signed acceptance of the $13.65 million price, which was he said was determined by an appraisal of the property at 123 North St.
However, Stuart Shinske of FocusMediaUSA, speaking on behalf of the club, told the Business Journal, “Harrison”™s $13.65 million offer to buy Willow Ridge Country Club was formally accepted as an advance payment by the town of Harrison. That dollar amount is not the full purchase price. Under New York state eminent domain laws, the club can now make a claim in court for a higher value for the property. If it’s found to be worth more than the current price tag, the town would have to pay the difference.”
“It was a lot of hard work. I’m very excited about it,” Belmont said, crediting Harrison staff and others who have been working on the matter. He cautioned that additional details need to be worked out, including sourcing funds that would be used to complete the acquisition. He did not have a timetable for Harrison actually taking title to the property.
A group known as Harrison Voters United has come forward to express opposition to the town acquiring the country club.
The group established a website, harrisonvotersunited.com. It said the town not only shouldn’t be in the golf business, but the cost will be much higher than has been estimated by officials.
The group said that the property’s fair market value is $40 million and that’s what the town will have to pay. It also said the course will need $3 million to $5 million in immediate capital improvements. It also said that if the property were used for residential development, $350 million would be added to the assessment roll producing $7 million in annual tax revenues.
As far back as the late 1960s, Harrison had been interested in acquiring Willow Ridge. According to a document prepared by Belmont, the town in 1967 began a condemnation proceeding to take the property. Although a court case and appeal were decided in the town’s favor since it had demonstrated that the acquisition of the property and golf operations would be for a public use, Harrison did not move ahead with acquiring the country club at that time.
“I’ve been hearing rumblings since I’ve been in office, and I’ve been in office for 10 years now, that every couple of years, Willow Ridge is going to go under; why don’t you give them a call. So finally this time we gave them a call and they didn’t answer our calls or emails and eventually we found out that it was going to happen. So, we put our noses to the grindstone and got it done,” Belmont said.
“They wanted to go a different way but it’s just too much of a valuable resource for the town to let it be developed into homes or housing or anything like that.”
According to Belmont, he had reached out to Willow Ridge officials in October. He had previously stated that he and his staff contacted club members they knew and learned that the club was actively seeking buyers, including real estate developers. Belmont described the town having two meetings with Willow Ridge representatives during October and expressing strong interest in acquiring the club but advising it needed some time to perform due diligence.
Belmont said that Willow Ridge told the town there were three other parties interested in acquiring the property, two of which would keep it operating as a golf club and a third that would build houses.
Belmont said that Willow Ridge notified the town it was making Nov. 7 the deadline for a letter of intent to be submitted if Harrison wanted to make a purchase and took subsequent actions that Belmont said made it apparent an eminent domain proceeding would be necessary.
While the town was moving forward with the eminent domain proceeding, including holding a public hearing and preparing environmental documents, the country club was sponsoring a website headlined, “STOP Harrison From Seizing Willow Ridge Country Club by Eminent Domain.”
The website called the process “an extreme government outreach that will force taxpayers to shell out tens of millions of dollars.”
The website included a copy of a letter submitted to the Harrison Town Board by the club’s attorney, Andrew Schriever of the White Plains-based law firm Cuddy & Feder LLP. The letter expressed strong opposition to an eminent domain proceeding. It expressed concerns that the town was “improperly flexing its municipal muscle to artificially and unfairly generate leverage over Willow Ridge, in what we can only surmise is part of a plan to try to depress the club’s value to try to drive down the price the town would have to pay in an eminent domain proceeding.”
Willow Ridge covers approximately 121 acres. According to a document prepared by Belmont, it includes an 18-hole golf course, driving range, putting green, six Har-Tru tennis courts, an outdoor pool with cabanas, a snack bar/luncheonette, a dining room, banquet hall for large events, outdoor patio and covered veranda.
Belmont tasked a committee of nine with preparing a report on acquiring the country club. The report was issued on Feb. 24.
“The Committee is of the firm and collective opinion that the Town-Village of Harrison should acquire WRCC and should continue the use of the property as an active recreational use, for the public at large, and the residents of Harrison in particular,” the report stated.
It said that a local development corporation (LDC) should be formed to take over ownership of the property after its acquisition. The report suggested that if bonds were issued by Harrison to pay the acquisition cost the LDC could issue bonds of its own to pay off the initial debt.
