Card mailed to Country Club residents
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Date: March 1,
2013 Your support at the meeting held on February 27, 2013, at the Escondido Country Club was overwhelming. ECC’s new owner was aware of our community’s presence and concerns despite the fact that he did not invite ECC area residents to attend the meeting. This memo outlines what ECC’s new owner told those ECC members who were permitted to attend. First, over the past five years ECC’s membership dwindled as a result of the previous owner’s mismanagement. Second, the new owner claims he is losing $25,000 to $35,000 each month by keeping ECC’s operation open. Third, the new owner claims he cannot afford to maintain ECC as a country club, a golf course, and a going business concern, and he represented he will completely close all of ECC’s operations on April 1, 2013. Fourth, the new owner said he would consider selling ECC, but claimed he had no idea how much it was worth. Fifth, the new owner said he would meet with ECC area residents to discuss his plans, but he has not set a time or date for the meeting. Finally, and most disturbing, the new owner admitted that he had already contacted Escondido City Council members and City of Escondido staff members to work on a plan to transform the golf course into a residential development. A group of us – currently calling ourselves the Escondido Country Club Homeowners Organization (ECCHO) – are looking into ways to maintain the golf course and common facilities. We want ECC to remain a golf course that is open to the public and maintain the clubhouse, pool and common areas open for use by all ECC area residents. We have hired an attorney and are forming a non-profit corporation to manage or purchase the golf course, but if the new owner refuses to negotiate a sale or does not keep the golf course and common areas open, we are prepared to vigorously resist his effort to turn the golf course into residential real property. We hope to meet with the new owner to discuss these matters within the next few weeks. You will be kept abreast of our progress. We are in the process of developing a dedicated email account for the community’s use. We will send it to you within the next couple of weeks. Let’s all work together to preserve our neighborhood. Please keep in touch with us, with your homeowner’s association, your city council representative, and your neighbors, and let us know if you are able to offer any assistance, financial or otherwise, in maintaining our neighborhood. Escondido Country Club Homeowners Organization |