After months of negotiations -- and with a real estate developer waiting in the wings -- the Seven Lakes Landowners Association [SLLA] Board of Directors on Monday approved an amended agreement with Seven Lakes Country Club [SLCC] concerning future development of the old driving range. The action was taken during a Special Open Meeting that preceded the February 14 Board Work Session.
Originally executed in July 2007, the agreement was put back on the table for discussion last Summer when the Club wanted clearer language regarding the relationship between the Association and any future developer of the old range. The fifth bullet point of the original document restricted future development of the property to no more than fourteen homes and committed the Association to "work with the developer in an open, efficient and cooperative fashion."
After several months of slow progress and multiple conferences with attorneys on both sides, key Board members representing the Club and Association met in January 2011 and reached a compromise, SLLA President Randy Zielsdorf explained during Monday's special meeting.
The result was an amended fifth bullet point that no longer specifies a maximum number of homes that may be built on the driving range but, instead, relies on a combination of Moore County ordinances and South Side covenants to limit the density of any subdivision. While the SLLA continues, in the amended agreement, to pledge to work with the developer in an open and cooperative manner, it also promises that the developer will be subject to the same decision-making criteria as any other home or lot owner, as applied by the Architectural Review Board [ARB].
The amended agreement and two related documents -- an easement that creates a ten foot buffer strip along Seven Lakes Drive and covenants restricting development of the Club’s remaining property to use as a golf course -- were unanimously approved with a 6-0 vote of the SLLA Board. Treasurer Denny Galford, who previously served on the Country Club Board, recused himself from the vote.
Immediately following the approval, SLCC President Steve Ritter announced the Club has entered into a contract to sell the 5.42 acre tract to Rufty Homes, a Raleigh-based builder of high-end custom homes.
A four-time winner of the Home Builder of the Year award by the Home Builders Association and TSMC of Wake, Durham, Chatham and Orange Counties, Jon Rufty and his company [www.ruftyhomes.com] have also garnered multiple Gold awards at Parade of Homes displays in the Triangle Area, and recognized several times as Custom Builder of the Year by the Triangle Business Journal.
“They are going through the due diligence process and are very excited to become part of the community,” said Ritter. “This is a very high quality, reputable company.”
Ritter thanked ARB Director Melinda Scott and Zielsdorf for their cooperation and understanding during the negotiations.
“In this process I felt we developed a good rapport that needs to developed between the two Boards. I believe that what is good for the landowners is good for the Club and vice versa. This has been a very positive process.”
Original Text of the SLLA-SLCC Agreement
• The Seven Lakes Landowners Association will grant the authority to Seven Lakes Country Club to establish its own covenants limiting the use of all Country Club property to the operations of the golf course and country club. Hunter Stovall will have the right to review the Seven Lakes Country Club covenants to insure compliance with this requirement.
• The Seven Lakes Country Club will grant a ten foot easement along Seven Lakes Drive from the South Gate House to the Townhouses. This easement will be incorporated into the setback requirements if it affects the setbacks for the development for any or all of this property. This easement can only be used for green spaces. Hunter Stovall to write this easement.
• The Seven Lakes Country Club will provide sufficient land for a minimum of five parking spaces to the east of the current South Side Mail House with similar deed restrictions that currently exists for the South Side Mail House.
• Upon the sale of any Seven Lakes Country Club property for residential purposes such properties will be subject to the South Side Covenants.
• Upon the approval of the Seven Lakes Country Club Membership to sell the existing practice range to a developer for residential purposes, the property will be subject to the South Side Covenants. The SLLA recognizes that the current proposal includes up to 14 residential units and the SLLA will work with the developer in an open, efficient and cooperative fashion.
Bullet Point five as revised
“Upon the approval of the Seven Lakes Country Club Membership to sell the former Practice Range to a developer for residential purposes, the property will be subject to the South Side Covenants [of the Seven Lakes Landowners Association, as recorded in Deed Book 399, Page 523, Deed Book 400, Page 800, and any subsequent amendments thereto, in the Office of the Moore County Register of Deeds]. The SLLA will work with the developer in an open, efficient and cooperative manner. The SLLA agrees that they will work with the developer within the guidelines, regulations, and restrictions established within Moore County Rules and Regulations. Additionally, the SLLA agrees that the decision-making process and criteria used by the ARB [Architectural Review Board] committee members will be applied to the developer in the same manner as they are applied to all requests submitted by other Seven Lakes home and lot owners. The SLLA also agrees to the number of units identified by Moore County provided the developer’s proposed housing units conform to the standards and criteria identified in the SLLA [South Side] Covenants, bylaws and rules and regulations.”
