Monday, June 23, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.
Plans are moving ahead to sell off two of the three golf courses at the Stallion Mountain subdivision in east Las Vegas.
That was the news about 250 residents of the 730-home community received at a meeting Saturday afternoon at the Nevada Palace casino. Residents turned out to discuss the issue and hear alternative plans, but got word that it may be too late for alternatives when Michael Luce, president of the Walters Group, announced that the company had received about 380 favorable proxy votes from Stallion Mountain homeowners.
Developer Bill Walters told homeowners in April that his golf operations at the subdivision -- which include three golf courses, a driving range and clubhouse -- are no longer profitable. He proposed selling two of the three courses to a home builder in order to pay off about $36 million in debt and preserve one course.
Walters needs 51 percent -- about 372 homeowners -- to approve the sale of the courses.
"We are in the process of moving forward now," Luce told the assembled homeowners.
Also at the meeting was Don Boettcher, vice president of land acquisition for Pulte Homes of Nevada, who confirmed that the builder has discussed purchasing the land from Walters.
"We have had some formal discussions," he said, adding that any deal would be contingent on reaching a "consensus of homeowners."
Edward Song, the attorney representing the Stallion Mountain homeowners association, indicated that the 380 proxies Walters has received -- if they are deemed valid -- would constitute the needed consensus. Some homeowners argued that it should take 75 percent to alter the community's bylaws in order to validate the sale.
"There is a very credible argument that 51 percent is sufficient," said Song, a lawyer with the firm of Angius & Terry LLP.
Luce agreed to allow the proxies to be verified by the homeowners association's board of directors before making any formal moves to sell the property, which would be used to build some 1,200 homes.
Alan Green, owner of Diamond Motors in Las Vegas, presented an alternative plan for the subdivision that would call for selling just one course. Also, homeowner Kurt Sebben presented a plan that would have homeowners buy the nine golf course holes that surround the entrance of the subdivision. Those holes would then be leased back to Walters. That effort would face the difficult task of getting homeowners to agree to pay $30 per month for the added open space.
While several homeowners at the meeting expressed their displeasure at Walters for putting them in the current situation and Pulte, which built and sold the existing homes, for failing to disclose the possibility of losing some of the golf courses, much of the criticism was directed at the board of directors.
The board issued a letter on June 2 supporting the Walters proposal. Homeowners criticized the board for issuing the letter without holding a meeting to measure support or publicly review the alternatives.
James Murphy, a member of the Stallion Mountain board, said the possibility of a homeowners meeting was discussed when options were being evaluated, but the board was operating under a tight deadline in order to prevent the closure of the golf courses.
"If we could have had a meeting like that, we would have had one," he said. "But Mr. Walters was going to close the golf course ... unless some favorable action was taken."
Murphy said the board also considered Green's plan, but organizers of that effort would provide no substantive information on financing or development details.
"We had no choice," he said.
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