Cherry Hills Golf Course sold to private development company
The Cherry Hills Golf Course, a fixture in Sun City for decades, has closed. (Photo by Justin Martinez) By Doug Spoon, Editor Escrow has c...
By Doug Spoon, Editor
Escrow has closed on the sale of the Cherry Hills Golf Course to a private development group, and the golf course is permanently closed.
Menifee City Council member Bob Karwin confirmed the closure in a Facebook post earlier this week. According to Karwin, “The new ownership group has no immediate plans for the future use of the property, but do not intend to operate a golf course.”
The fate of the golf course has been in doubt for several months, with rumors of a sale and reduced hours at the course. This had been the only golf course remaining in the Sun City community following the closure by the same ownership of the North Course in 2017.
“There is one specific rumor floating around that the property was bought by Edison to install a solar panel farm,” wrote Karwin on Facebook. “This is untrue. The new owners are a private development group that builds both residential and commercial properties.
“The property is currently zoned as ‘passive recreation.’ This means, in its current condition, neither residential nor commercial can be built on it without a change to the zoning. Once the transfer of title is complete, the new ownership group is planning a community meeting, possibly as soon as February, to discuss future plans with the residents and get your feedback. I will update you once a date and location for that meeting have been confirmed.”
The identity of the new ownership group has not been revealed.
The secrets concerning the new owners, combined with their quiet "hush hush" purchase speaks volumes. Homeowners in Sun City were blindsided by the closing of the Cherry Hills course. The North course has been closed since 2017. (Why home owners sitting off the abandoned North Course haven't hired a few attorneys for a class action lawsuit is beyond me?) The North Course has been allowed to decay, sitting empty collecting dust, weeds and homeless encampments for years. How is it possible that the city of Menifee isn't involved in this massive mess and land sale? How can they keep a straight face and pretend to know so little about it and what the "mysterious new owners" plan to do with the land? Here's an idea! How about the city buy the courses from the mysterious new owners and renovate them? Why can't Sun City remain a golf course community? This is, after all, why many homeowners bought their houses in Sun City! To live in a retirement community with a golf course! Can't the new owners bring in new businesses and build some new condos and homes? Get some zoning changes? Develop, change and improve some of the golf course land... While also renovating at least a large part of the Cherry Hills golf course?
ReplyDeleteSave the Course
ReplyDeleteIt’s appalling that our community leaders would even consider re-zoning the Cherry Hills Golf Course for anything other than what it currently is, a golf course. It makes you wonder if there is some pocket padding to get this done, money talks. If this is how our community leaders are looking out for our best interest we never should have joined with Menifee and should have incorporated ourselves. What’s weird is that when the previous owner bought the course in 2017 he was planning on shutting the course down and developing it and was told he couldn’t because it was in a flood plain, what changed? Nothing. In talking with the individual that is in charge of the course he said that it took two much water to keep the course going and that we should just go golf their other courses at Menifee Lakes or in Moreno Valley. Last I heard all golf courses take water, so are they going to shut those courses down and develop them as well. He was as arrogant as the day is long and appeared to enjoy telling people that the course is shut down and going to be developed. Plus, we’d never golf Menifee Lakes as they are as arrogant as this individual and not friendly at all. This course is part of our Sun City community and we need to work together to save it. If our community leaders, through hook or crook or pocket padding, approve changing the zoning and approving this project this would reduce our property value and quite possibly destroy our senior community status. We all need to show up at the Fairfield Inn on Friday February 2nd at 9am for the meeting they’re having to discuss what’s going to happen. Let’s stand strong together and show up in force that day. Let’s not allow our community leaders to destroy what we have and why so many of us came to live here.