My family decided we had enough apartment living at the beginning of the year (see the tie-in?
) and found a nice place on the edge of Phoenix. The house was nice in spite of its '83 build date and featured a newly developed sports park across the street-- Play ground, hoops, skate park and even water features for hot summer days. That alone was a score for our one and a half year old child. The back yard featured a gate that led directly to the fairway of the community golf course that wound through the neighborhood. Ponds, ducks. Honest to God Canadian Geese in Arizona. Property value gold and a great area for the kid to grow up in. We bought it up when the economy was still down. It wasn't a steal, but it didn't break the bank either. This lasted until October, at which point we were brought up to speed on the neighborhood politics in a rather abrupt manner. The golf course is apparently contested property. Like most golf courses, it is owned by a private entity. When the City of Phoenix annexed the community from Maricopa, it was done so under the provision that an 18 hole golf course is to be maintained as it was built. This was a contractual obligation the LLC entered into and has been maintained for about 20 years.
The land owner now wants out and is petitioning the City of Phoenix with lawyers to release it from its contractual obligation to not only maintain the course, but to plow it under and build more housing on top of it. My backyard view will go from a fairway to somebody's back yard if this manages to be successful. Property values will undoubtedly plummet. Construction will be the bane of our existence for probably the better half of a year.
We're petitioning our council men and women and picketing, but what say you? Anybody with helpful advice? Because Ill tell you this is really going to suck for the entire community if it goes through.
