Health & Fitness
Clarence Kettler's Promise
In October of 1980 Clarence Kettler wrote the residents of Montgomery Village about the sale of the Montgomery Village Golf Course property, located in the middle of the new planned community.
This is what he wrote:
"When purchasing your home in Montgomery Village, your prime location overlooking the well-kept golf course grounds was an important factor… we have gone to great lengths.. In writing protective covenants into the purchase contract. As with all Village properties, Kettler Bros. will retain architectural control over any changes to the existing grounds… Of course, current zoning and the Town Sector Ordinance also assure you that the Club will be used exclusively for golfing and related purposes. No homes can, or will, be built on this property”
The whole text of the letter is on the Village Citizens web site -
http://www.villagecitizens.org along with the recent history and timeline of the golf course ownership and prior development efforts.
Mr Kettler wrote this letter to residents because the 1980 sales contract for the golf course had several restrictive clauses, namely:
Paragraph 7.8 “Purchaser further warrants that he recognizes that Seller is not conveying to Purchaser as part of the transfer of the property any permitted Population Density Credits as set forth in the Town Sector Zone.”
Paragraph 7.10 “ … the property transferred herein shall be used as a golf club exclusively at least until such time as the Town Sector Zoning expires, and the architectural control provision hereunder shall also be the subject of a recorded covenant.”
and
Paragraph 7.10 owner “… shall construct no building nor modify any existing building…until such time as the building plans .. have been approved in writing as to conformity and harmony … by an architectural control committee … under the auspices of the Montgomery Village Foundation.”
and....
“The terms and conditions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors, heirs, and assigns of the respective parties hereto. "
So the documents show that the Montgomery Village community was planned with a golf course as a major amenity, and sold to a golf course operator for only $2M in order to allow him to operate it and keep the heart of the village a beautiful green.
The sales contract says the provisions apply to all heirs and assigns (dictionary.com says that an "assignee" is "a person to whom the property or interest of another is or may be transferred" I had to look that up!).
So - from a land use planning perspective, it seems that the golf course can only be used as a golf course. So why would the Montgomery Village community, our elected officials, or the county planning board even consider supporting the request of the realty company to close the golf course and build 550 apartments, townhouses, and houses there? (check out the developer's web site, http://www.bloominmv.com to see their proposed plans!).
Why did the contract discuss "population credits, and what are they?
One of the reasons the MVGC property was created was to provide a compensating open-space area that was counted in the overall Montgomery Village Town Sector "zone", and therefore allow more dense development in other parts of the community.
In meeting this goal, the 147.44 acres of the golf course is open green space and was counted as open green space by the county when adding up the overall number of total acres of Montgomery Village, therefore allowing the developer to build the maximum number of houses and townhouses in other parts of the community.The "Town Sector Zone" currently allows for up to 15.0 people per acre to reside in the total area of the zone, as defined by a summation that multiplies each house built by 3.7 people, each townhouse by 3.0 people, each low-level (<5 story) apartment unit by 3.0 people, and each high-rise apartment unit by 2.0 people. To calculate the population used in the Town Sector the developer takes the number of each unit type built, multiplies them by these factors, then sums the total up. Once the total population is divided by the number of acres in the plan, the total must be at or less than 15.0. The planning board recently recommended that the County Council should keep the Town Sector Zone in place indefinitely.
Currently the county defined "population count" in Montgomery Village is 36,285, while the amount of "available" credits based on ALL the land in the village is 36,522. Only 238 population credits are currently available. A significant change in the zoning code would be needed to build more than 119 apartments, 79 townhouses, or 64 houses anyplace in Montgomery Village (assuming the land was available - there is not much of that in the village).
Along with 7 swimming pools 20+ Tennis Courts, a lake with boating, miles of interweaving walking trails, a gym and great summer camps, Montgomery Village has a golf course designed by Ed Ault, the noted designer that also designed the Northwest and Falls Road golf courses.
The Kettler Brothers did not try to squeeze in every single extra house in the village like some developers did further north - they promised residents that no homes can or would be built on the golf course. Hopefully the Montgomery Village Leadership and County Council find a way to ensure that promise is kept, no matter what over-development happens around us.