Church plans to oust Zephyr Point homeowners

Thursday, Nov. 4, 1999 | 12:22 p.m.

The Douglas County District Court suit, filed on behalf of the Zephyr Point Leaseholders Association, claims that the church misled the cabin owners when the last lease was signed in 1986.

As many as 55 leaseholders - some whose families have vacationed on the property since the 1920s - are to be forced out when their current leases run out in 2001.

The Sierra Mission Partnership, a Sacramento-based Presbyterian Church alliance which oversees operations at the conference grounds, plans a major renovation on the property.

The plans call for many of the vacation cabins to be torn down or removed. A 500-seat auditorium, a parking garage and a senior facility would be built.

"The leaseholders want what they bargained for. They contend they were duped," said Kent Robison, a Reno attorney representing the leaseholders. "They want a substantial compensation of value of what they gave to the church, or a reasonable alternative."

Representatives of the conference grounds have said they've been up front with the cabin owners and had made it clear that the current leases wouldn't be renewed.

The conference grounds have been a popular retreat for church groups and other organizations for several decades. The property includes a half-mile of beachfront and 75 cabins.

"The leaseholders and the church have been operating on a series of 15-year leases," Robison said. "When the last lease was signed, the leaseholders were told that they would get more than 15 years if they signed. Now they feel betrayed. These people own these cabins. There are some real estate entitlements here that will be explored."

"They want us all out of there, and I don't think that's fair," said John Packer, one of the cabin owners. "Many of the families have been there since 1926, when the conference grounds were founded. I grew up there."

Packer said that the leaseholders have approached the church many times with the intention of resolving the issue, but that they have been rebuffed.

"What (the church) appears to be doing is taking the assets of the leaseholders without compensation," said Bob Wallin, the president of the Zephyr Point Leaseholders Association. "There are some very strong feelings about the way we've been treated."