SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2022
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3B
Golf club asks for $4.2M to pause development
Tracy Loew
Salem Statesman Journal
USA TODAY NETWORK
Creekside Golf Club is again asking
an adjoining neighborhood to prop up
its bottom line.
In return for an estimated $4.2 mil-
lion, the club’s owners will pause plans
to develop the property into housing for
five years, according to a proposal sent
to homeowners last week.
During the first year, 65% of the mon-
ey raised would go toward deferred
maintenance and infrastructure im-
provements at the golf club, such as re-
placing pond liners, upgrading the irri-
gation system and deferred pool main-
tenance. The remaining 35% would
support salary increases for club em-
ployees. That funding allocation could
vary in future years.
The 588 members of the Creekside
Homeowners Association will vote on
the plan on June 29.
Club has struggled for years
Houses are seen as golfers play golf at Creekside Golf Club in Salem. BRIAN HAYES/STATESMAN JOURNAL
The plan is the latest in a series of
controversial proposals to keep the
struggling golf course open.
Creekside Golf Club and the Creek-
side Estates neighborhood were created
by the same developer, but otherwise
have no legal or financial connection.
But many club members live in the
neighborhood, and those with golf
course views have an interest in pre-
venting development. Some residents
said they bought their homes believing
the golf course would always be there.
The private club is owned by Creek-
side Golf Course, LLC. That company’s
owners are Larry Tokarski’s Mountain
West Investment Corp. and Terry Kelly,
a former partner in Pence/Kelly Con-
struction.
In February 2016, the owners sent a
letter to neighborhood homeowners
saying the club had been losing money
for years.
The club threatened to sell the golf
course to a housing developer unless
neighbors agreed to raise their associa-
tion dues from $30 to $90 per month in
exchange for limited memberships in
the club, raising about $400,000 per
year.
When that failed, club leaders asked
the city of Salem to reduce the rate it
charges for water, potentially saving the
business $140,000 per year. Creekside
is the only Salem golf course that irri-
gates with tap water. That proposal,
which would have raised residential
water rates an average of $8 per year,
also failed.
Meanwhile, club leaders asked club
members to kick in more than $1,000
each, and increased golf dues by $65 per
month.
In April 2016, the homeowners asso-
ciation filed a lawsuit asking a judge to
stop any closure or development of the
golf course. They argued that the course
was a key selling point for housing lots
within the community, amounting to a
contractual promise to maintain its op-
eration.
In May, Tokarski filed a pre-develop-
ment application with the city of Salem
for a 156-acre, 354-unit planned devel-
opment. At the time, city officials said
stormwater and wetland concerns
could prevent some of that develop-
ment.
In 2017, a judge ruled in favor of the
club. Homeowners appealed, and the
case is still open.
A judge also ruled that Creekside
Homeowners Association must pay the
club owners $422,789 for legal fees
spent fighting the lawsuit.
Tokarski’s Mountain West Invest-
ment Corp. did not respond to an inter-
view request.
The Creekside Homeowners Associ-
ation board referred questions to Com-
munity Management Inc., a Portland
homeowners association management
company. It declined to comment.
What homeowners will decide
The latest proposal comes from the
Creekside Preservation Committee, a
two-month-old group that includes
representatives of the homeowners as-
sociation board and the golf club.
Homeowners will be asked to vote on
two separate provisions.
The first provision creates a 5-year,
fixed assessment of $90 per month, or
$1,080 per year, per household. The fee
is in addition to the $47 per month asso-
ciation dues homeowners already pay,
and does not come with a club member-
ship.
The fee would raise about $635,000
per year. After five years, the fee could
increase.
Two-thirds of members present for
voting must approve the monthly fee for
it to pass.
The second provision creates a
transfer fee of 1% of the sale price of any
home sold in Creekside Estates.
Because the transfer fee requires an
amendment to the CC&R’s, it would re-
quire the approval of 75% of all house-
holds.
It is expected to raise about
$200,000 per year for the club.
If the club owners decide to close the
course after five years, both provisions
would be canceled.
The proposal also contains some ad-
ditional items, which will be enacted if
either provision is approved:
h During the 5-year term, Creekside
Homeowners Association will have the
right of first refusal on any sale of the
golf course.
h The golf course owners will defer
payments on $211,767 owed by the HOA
as part of the previous lawsuits over de-
velopment of the golf course. Any mon-
ey collected as part of the proposal that
is over the expected $835,040 per year
would go to pay down that amount.
h If the golf course is closed and de-
veloped, future homeowners will be re-
quired to join the homeowners associa-
tion. However, development won’t have
to adhere to the HOA’s architectural
guidelines.
h The homeowners association will
not oppose the development of three
lots opposite the 14th green, or the de-
velopment of condominiums to be built
along Creekside Drive.
The 153-acre, 18-hole golf course was
built in 1993. It was designed by touring
golf professional Peter Jacobsen.
Tracy Loew is a reporter at the
Statesman Journal. She can be reached
at
tloew@statesmanjournal.com,
503-399-6779 or on Twitter at
@Tracy_Loew.
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