Potential golf course developer’s past in question as Plantation deal looms | Local News

“So much has gone on since we first heard about it, that American Golf was selling their golf courses,” said Mike Nero, a six-year resident of Plantation with his wife, Terri Nero.

Mike Nero said it’s not just a golf course but a tight-knit community that he and Terri are afraid to see change.

“American Golf is really the bad guys in this thing, because they sold it without telling the members, without offering it up to the members. The members would have come up with the money to buy it,” Mike Nero said.

Residents are even considering making a counter offer and buying the course themselves.

As angst over the possible development grows, Garden City Mayor John Evans understands residents’ concern but cautions people not to fall prey to the “rumor mill,” which he said is “running rampant” surrounding the sale of Plantation Golf Course.

American Golf Corporation is selling its 26 golf courses to shift away from traditional golf, which is seeing declining participation, and toward golf-oriented leisure and entertainment, according to a Golf Inc. report from October.

American Golf has not responded to a voicemail requesting comment on the pending sale of Plantation.

Few details are available about what’s next for the course in Garden City. Residents opposed to development formed Save Plantation Coalition, LLC when they heard a notorious Santa Barbara-based developer had his eye on buying the course.

Save Plantation spokesman Craig Quintana says the developer, Will Gustafson, met privately with the group and said he’s planning a commercial development along State Street. He’s gone back and forth, Quintana claims, about how much residential, if any, would be built on the course.

“We’ve heard a couple of different things from Gustafson and his would-be partners,” Quintana said.

Initially Quintana was told that Boise developer George Iliff would partner with Gustafson to develop the course, but recently heard that Gustafson has partnered with Larry Leasure, another Treasure Valley developer.

Leasure did not respond to a request for comment, but Iliff told the Idaho Press he believes Gustafson will take the steps to properly engage with the community.

“I completely understand the concerns and fears of folks in the neighborhood there because they don’t know, and when you don’t know, it’s easy to be scared,” he said.

Iliff is working with Gustafson in an advisory role, but expects to be more involved once Gustafson buys the property.

Gustafson has not returned multiple calls from the Idaho Press.

While the uncertainty of the course’s future is part of what’s driving community members’ fears, Illif said Gustafson is waiting to make plans until he owns the course.

“He really is decided and (has) been advised by me and other members of his team to wait until he owns the property,” Iliff said.

Iliff said Gustafson plans to host community meetings and events to decide how to proceed with development, taking the opinions of local residents into account.

“I think it’s clear that the Plantation Golf Course in its present form is not a viable long-term use of the land,” Iliff said.

While Plantation is well maintained, golf courses around the nation are in decline. Since 2011, the U.S. has shown a net decline of 737 golf facilities nationwide, according to a report from Golf.com.

The Plantation course is historic, which is one of the key points opponents are making. Built in 1907, it’s the second-oldest golf course in Idaho, Quintana said.

A number of houses surround the course, and residents say more development would only detract from the course and the community.

Terri Nero said it’s not just the residents who use the course, but Boise State Women’s Golf and a number of local high school teams who practice there.

The Neros’ concerns are shared by a number of the neighborhood residents, including their neighbors, Audrey and Joe Leaf.

“We are a family, a community,” said Audrey Leaf, who has lived on the course since the early 1980s. “If you come down to the clubhouse any day, you’re probably going to see 25 or more people that you know, and we would lose all of that.”

The clubhouse, she said, is the heart of the community. It hosts weddings, remembrance ceremonies, parties and a group of gentlemen who gather there to play cards every day.

“Our community would be totally destroyed if this development comes in,” Audrey Leaf said. “I’ve gone through cancer, Joe has gone through brain tumors, and let me tell you there wasn’t a better place to be.”

The Leafs and Neros said if the development is approved as it’s been presented so far, they feel they must move elsewhere.

“It’s going to depend on what the development really turns out to be,” Mike Nero said.

A source of the anxiety for residents is the developer himself. Gustafson has a history of buying golf courses and building residential or commercial developments on or near them.

Gustafson’s company, Synergy Golf Partners, buys, redevelops and manages golf courses, according to a Bloomberg overview of the company. It is unclear how many courses Synergy Golf Partners owns, as the business does not have a website.

Gustafson’s track record worries local residents. A recent venture in Sparks, Nevada, is still ongoing, as the city of Sparks is suing Gustafson for negligence after the D’Andrea Golf Course fell into disrepair.

However, while news reports from the Reno area say residents blame Gustafson for the course’s demise, Sparks Mayor Ron Smith said it isn’t that simple.

“People blame him because he owned the golf course when they bought a house on the course,” Smith said.

In 2009, 18 holes of golf at D’Andrea cost $95. Over time, though, the number of golfers decreased, and so did the profits. Eventually a round of golf cost $55, and the course wasn’t sustainable, Smith said.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize money is not coming in any longer,” he said.

Gustafson offered the residents a chance to pay an additional $28 a month to keep up with operations, the local ABC station reported. But Smith said that effort fell flat.

While Smith doesn’t blame Gustafson for the course closing, he said the developer’s negligence after the closure is what landed him in hot water.

The once groomed fairways are now overgrown, even though Gustafson said he would continue to maintain the course, Smith said. The local homeowners association voted to have Gustafson come clean the course, but after agreeing to do so he never showed up, Smith claims.

Smith describes Gustafson as friendly and likable, but he wouldn’t do business with him again.

Quintana, the spokesman for Save Plantation, said members of the group did meet with Gustafson recently.

He said residents just recently contacted American Golf and asked if it would consider a counter offer, which representative for American Golf told the group it would. However, American Golf will not allow potential buyers to review financial records for Plantation before making the offer, Quintana said.

It is unclear if residents will proceed with making a counter offer.

One of the key problems for opponents to this development is the zoning designation. The land is zoned for two residential units per acre.

“We’re in a strong property rights state,” Mayor Evans said. “Right now the golf course is privately owned, is zoned (residential), and that zone provides an entitlement,” he said.

Any development beyond that scope would need City Council approval. Save Plantation has proposed an ordinance to change the designation to open space, but City Council has not received an application, Evans said.

The golf course does add an element of historic value to Garden City, he said, but that’s unlikely to make an impact on what actually happens it.

“Garden City doesn’t have a historic preservation commission,” he said. “We don’t have a mechanism to retroactively do something, to change that status.”