May 8, 2017 2 min read

Cecil Township Zoning Hearing Board rejected a challenge by Southpointe Golf Club to changes township officials made last year to local land-use rules.

The club, which operates an 18-hole golf course at the mixed-use development, argued the changes enacted in a Sept. 6 amendment to the zoning ordinance “effectively rezones (the club’s) property to require that it remain a golf course in perpetuity, unless it can meet discretionary standards for rezoning, or obtain the consent of 100 percent of adjacent property owners, which consent could be revoked at any time, without rhyme, reason or cause,” and was designed to prevent future development of the land.

The zoning hearing board, however, concluded at its meeting last week the ordinance “is a valid exercise by the township of their legislative power.”

The club lodged its challenge after previously contesting another version of the ordinanc supervisors approved earlier last year that also could have affected future uses of the property. Southpointe Medical Associates filed an application May 5, 2016 – three days after supervisors enacted a new ordinance – to build a special-needs pediatric facility near the sixth hole of the golf course. Supervisors later rejected the application.

The golf club already is embroiled in a complicated legal fight over who has authority in decisions affecting the future of the property.

The organization filed a separate civil suit last year arguing veto power exercised by Redevelopment Authority of Washington County – the initial developer of Southpointe – and other constraints on development on the club’s property under covenants made in 1989 had expired in 2010.

It also accused Southpointe Property Owners Association of improperly attempting to reinstate those covenants and give itself that veto power in 2014.