Unsettled legal disputes threaten the proposed sale of Ridgemark Golf & Country Club.
JMK Golf LLC cautioned Monday that in the event the company and Ridgemark Homes Association continue their legal disputes through May 15 — an extended deadline — a buyer will exit a contract of sale, jeopardized by local litigation between corporations legally based in neighboring counties.
The prospective buyer — John Wynn, according to people familiar with the matter — reportedly proposed an extension of 45 days for the original deadline, previously set for April 1 and since confirmed by the club’s current owner.
“We can’t say what would happen after that point,” JMK Golf President Alex Kehriotis said May 1 in a statement to BenitoLink, which previously reported that ongoing litigation could lead to closure of the club as soon as this summer.
The Board of Directors of Ridgemark Homes Association, a not-for-profit corporation, last year filed a lawsuit over the use of the community’s private roads, eyed for access to reportedly facilitate residential development on the former home of two golf courses. RHA now faces a countersuit by JMK Golf, a limited liability company based in Santa Clara: The owner of Ridgemark Golf & Country Club, which last year shut down 18 of its 36 holes, seeks damages of $50 million.
Matteoni, O’Laughlin and Hechtman Partner Bradley Matteoni, an attorney who represents the homeowners’ association, said that the homeowners’ association and JMK have explored a potential settlement, but more progress remains necessary.
“There have been some meetings and potential settlement discussions between the parties in the last couple of months,” said Matteoni. “Unfortunately, as of this point in time, we have not been able to resolve the case. However, RHA remains optimistic that a mutually beneficial resolution to this matter that ensures the long term health of the Ridgemark Estates community can be reached.”
Kehriotis agreed, saying, “It’s ongoing. Knowing that a buyer is trying to step in and wanting to move forward, there seems to be an effort to work something out.”
RHA’s board took action last year when it sued JMK Golf LLC without a vote on the matter by all of the association’s members.
“Under its bylaws and the laws of the State of California, the board has the authority to determine whether or not to file a lawsuit on behalf of the RHA,” said Matteoni. “It is not a matter that would be put to a vote. Moreover, the board has a fiduciary duty to protect the RHA assets. And that is what the board has done and continues to do.”
Now, RHA directors plan to hold a vote among their constituents on any potential proposal for legal resolution.
“We believe a majority of homeowners support the board’s action and if a settlement is reached with JMK, the board has repeatedly advised JMK that it will be contingent upon the approval of the homeowners,” said Matteoni. “We believe that is the appropriate way to ensure that all our members have a voice in the process.”
Impending judgments brings to light reasonable concern among several homeowners: What will happen to Ridgemark — the entire community — including the club and its neighbors?
Hundreds of folks who reside near the golf course associate with smaller clusters, including Ridgemark XI Homeowners Association, Ridgemark Bluffs Homeowners Association and Ridgemark Greens Homeowners Association. They remain on the sidelines, still exposed to risk as a result of unresolved litigation among their neighbors and the owner of the nearest clubhouse.
Paul Namkoong, a member of Ridgemark XI, shared his perspective on the matter, concerning the future of his entire neighborhood.
“The majority of the homeowners belong to RHA,” said Namkoong. “The board is making decisions, filing and defending lawsuits without a vote of their constituents.”
David Tomlinson, a member of Ridgemark Bluffs Homeowners Association and longstanding member of the greater community, also raised concern over the fate of his community.
“The RHA has borne the burden of legal fees and the easement at the core of the suit, which is specific to that Association,” said Tomlinson. “More specifically, it should rest with the RHA Board of Directors. That board reportedly filed the lawsuit without benefit of a membership vote, acting on what they sincerely believed to be a clear mandate from the members. Since then, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars of membership funds to litigate the issue, again without a formal vote. The community has been mired in rumors, innuendo and acrimony since the suit’s filing. The RHA board has remained fairly tight lipped about litigation issues, releasing only general information as to the on-going status of negotiations. If a compromise between the litigants is reached, it should be the responsibility of the RHA board accept it on behalf of the membership and put this case to bed.”
Since the initiation of litigation between JMK and RHA, homeowners who reside beside the club intertwining Ridgemark’s community called for more help from the San Benito County Board of Supervisors, who subsequently stepped up: In April, they codified countywide law that protects mature trees and restricts their removal on public and private property. Supervisor Margie Barrios, who chairs the board, consistently voted against that idea.
John Kehriotis, the president and founder of JMK Investments Inc., on Monday said he hoped county supervisors would address the fragile situation in Ridgemark’s neighborhood.
“We’ve invested more than $9 million in that community,” he said. “Litigation has prevented us from further improvement there. Now, we’re spending money on legal fees.”
The club, according to JMK Golf, currently employs about 90 individuals.