Rose Hill property owners vote to buy closed golf course
There was a pretty big party by the banks of the Colleton River on Friday afternoon.
That's where members of the Rose Hill Plantation Property Owners Association celebrated the results of a vote to buy that community's shuttered golf course.
About 94 percent of voters cast ballots in favor of buying the 27-hole course. About 78 percent of the POA membership voted.
The announcement was made by Pam June of the accounting firm June & Associates at Colleton Point Landing in Rose Hill Plantation.
The property owners association will purchase the 250-acre course for $2.3 million from PBBM Rose Hill Limited Partnership, a bankrupt Dallas-based company. The course closed in January 2006. PBBM filed for bankruptcy in March of that same year.
Mike Hagen, president of the owners association, said his group is hoping the sale closes in early November. Talks with golf course operators about a lease to run the course are ongoing, Hagen said.
"This is just one step in a process to resolve (the issue)," Hagen told the large crowd gathered for the announcement.
Ursula Davis, an outspoken opponent of the purchase and one of 45 property owners who sued the association to stop the sale, said she wasn't surprised the vote was so heavily in favor of buying the course.
The fear of losing control over the property was probably a strong motivation for a "yes" vote, she said.
Davis said she and the other owners in the suit intend to continue the legal fight. On Thursday, that group was denied a temporary restraining order to stop the vote announcement. Meanwhile, the owners association has until Sept. 20 to respond to the suit, which claims the association board overstepped its authority in organizing the vote for a special assessment to pay for the purchase.
Hagen declined to discuss the association's legal strategy.
But legal wrangling was far from the minds of those residents celebrating along the river.
"We are going to start polishing our clubs because we are ready to go out golfing" said Doreen "Cookie" Fekner.
Resident Bob Milligan, who helped get out the vote, said he was surprised by how much the community came together on the issue.
"I don't think any plantation on Hilton Head Island could get a near unanimous vote of 94 percent for any major event like this," Milligan said.
Hagen said PBBM will begin mowing the course within five days.
VOTING RESULTS
In Rose Hill Plantation, homes got two votes, undeveloped lots got one vote. There are 962 properties in the community.
Yes: 1,306
No: 79
Invalid: 4
Abstentions: 2
Provisional based on late assessment payments: 2
THE DEAL
The Rose Hill Plantation Property Owners Association will borrow $2.5 million to fund the purchase of the golf course. The amount includes the purchase price and other related fees.
Homeowners will pay $530 a year for seven years or a one-time assessment of $2,950.
Lot owners will pay $350 per year over the same time frame or a lump sum of $1,965.
At least four of the 27 holes will remain open space.
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