Taking a private golf course and making public? (Eminent Domain)

The Village of North Hills has taken preliminary steps to seize a prestigious private golf course and turn it into public links, but the owners are already moving to block the potential takeover.

In a lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, the owners of the Deepdale Golf Club and a group of citizens contend that taking the 18-hole course under eminent domain would violate the Fifth Amendment. The suit argues that seizing land for use as a public golf course goes against the intent of eminent domain law.

The lawsuit seeks to block any future condemnation of the golf club, ranked by Golf Digest as the 19th best in the state from 1995 to 1998.

In another suit filed yesterday in State Supreme Court in Mineola, a retired stockbroker charges that in an effort to raise funds to buy the golf course, the village accepted millions of dollars in fees from a condominium developer in exchange for permission to build on land that state officials say is environmentally sensitive.

George Conway, the attorney for Deepdale, said that, unlike a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted the City of New London, Conn., the right to demolish homes to revitalize a depressed area, taking a private golf course goes against the intent of condemnation law.

North Hills just wants "to create a luxury amenity for residents because it will increase property values," Conway said.

http://www.pardonmyenglish.com/archives/2006/03/stealing_a_golf.html

That is to say, I predict the owners will win.

Regardless of the hypocrisy involved based on the last SCOTUS case on the matter.

property that needs to be coopted to redevelop the municipality. Especially if it's going to STILL be a golf club after eminent domain.