The POA board approved a deal, swapping about two and a half acres of undeveloped land for 19 acres of land that includes the Tanyard Creek Practice Center at the monthly board meeting on Thursday, but not all members were pleased with the deal.
The small parcel of land is bordered on either side by property owned by Cooper Communities and may become part of a controversial townhouse development.
Cooper is planning the development along Dogwood Drive that has already been denied a variance by the city. Cooper was asking to have the set back adjusted for town homes they plan to build there, but residents hired a lawyer to fight the plan and won. But the land may still be developed without the variance.
POA General Manager Tommy Bailey told the board that when Cooper developed their plan for the Dogwood Drive property, they realized they didn't have a copy of an agreement that gave them ownership of one piece of the land. POA staff couldn't find a copy either.
It wasn't unusual, Bailey said, for Cooper and the association to have verbal agreements about things such as property swaps when the two were working closely together. Since Bailey has been on the staff, no verbal agreements have been made and he's attempted to clarify ownership of any questionable property.
Talking to former association staff members, he gathered information about the deal. In the '90s, when the POA realized they needed to expand the golf practice facility, they agreed to swap a narrow parcel between the Country Club Golf Course and Dogwood Drive for a much larger parcel on the other side of Lancashire Road. The Tanyard Creek Driving Range was built on the larger parcel, but the agreement was never formalized.
More recently, in an attempt to clarify property ownership, the POA signed a lease agreement that gave them the use of the Tanyard Creek property until 2019. It was one of 15 properties that the POA has used and maintained while Cooper retained ownership.
Before the lease was drawn up, Bailey said he discussed the first agreement and was told Cooper wasn't interested in turning over ownership of Tanyard Creek. That has changed now and Cooper offered to trade almost 19 acres used by the association for about 2.5 acres not in use.
After the meeting Bailey said Cooper representatives told him the Dogwood property would be developed with or without the parcel owned by the association. It would mean less homes would be included in the new development, but it wouldn't stop it.
Two board members voted against the swap, but after the meeting one of them, Dave Barfield, said he didn't cast his vote in order to influence the Dogwood development.
"The residents' issues are with the city," he said. But another large area the association is leasing includes all the Tanyard Creek nature trails.
"We could have gotten a better deal," he said, indicating he thought the board should have held out for the entire Tanyard Creek park area.
Bailey said during his discussions with Cooper, he was assured the Cooper land included in Bella Vista's trail plan -- including Tanyard Creek nature trails, will be turned over to the association in the future.
General News on 04/22/2015