Many residents whose backyards border the golf course at The Ranch at Desert Lakes are facing the choice to either pay thousands of dollars to remedy an encroachment issue or remove fencing and landscaping.
Other residents whose backyards are not encroaching are being offered the opportunity to expand their backyards through a boundary line adjustment.
Residents attending a meeting at the golf course on May 20 were told the issue affects about 250 total homeowners, about 150 whose backyards are encroaching the golf course, and about 100 whose are not.
Residents whose yards are encroaching are being given the opportunity to purchase all or part of the encroachment, while residents who do not currently encroach have the opportunity to purchase extra space to add to their back yards.
Derek Kirkland, a senior planner for Wood Rodgers, representing the golf course, told residents at the May 20 meeting that so far 34 property owners had accepted the offer of a boundary line adjustment, although one of those asked to be taken off the list following the meeting.
The golf course has held several meetings to discuss the issue with residents, and Kirkland said every resident whose backyard borders the golf course has been mailed three notices. Still, some residents at the meeting said their neighbors, whose yards border the course, didn’t know about the issue.
The May 20 meeting was the first time the property owners had been presented with the costs for participating in the boundary line adjustment. Kirkland presented a breakdown that included a $160,000 total shared cost that includes surveying, mapping, recording, deed processing and other fees. That cost would be split between each of the property owners participating, and the more property owners participate, the less the cost for each would be. Based on the 34 people who had agreed as of May 20, Kirkland said the cost for that portion of the project would be $4,706 each. He said that cost would be less if more people participated but would not be higher because they were using 34 as a minimum number to divide the shared cost.
Kirkland said the deadline for residents to agree is June 30, because the survey and the maps are going to move forward on July 1.
“If we get more than 34 people sign on before June 30, that number would go down,” he said. “If less than 34 people actually sign, the golf course will pay the difference.”
The rest of the cost would be $3,500 per lot for lot-specific surveying, mapping and deed preparation, plus the land cost of $2 per square foot. Kirkland presented a scenario in which a homeowner adding $2,000 square feet would pay $4,000 for the land, bringing the total to $12,206.
Several property owners at the meeting spoke in favor of the project and were hopeful more people would join to reduce the cost. Others were opposed or had concerns.
One woman said her mortgage lender had told her it wouldn’t sign an addition to the property unless she refinanced the loan.
Another resident, Jeff Knutson, objected to residents paying to survey the entire golf course.
“That’s not right,” he said. “I think we should pay for what we might want to buy.”
Resident Brian O’Neill said it doesn’t improve the aesthetics of the golf course if one person expanded their yard, but their neighbors didn’t.
“If it’s a limited number, I don’t know how that’s productive for you and us,” he said.
Resident Kerry Palmer said none of the homeowners caused the problem. He said Google Earth images from 2011 show the fences in the same place they are now, demonstrating that the problem was caused either during the development of the subdivision or shortly after.
“I think the city and county, and everybody, should get together and talk about how to get this fixed,” he said.
Residents whose property encroaches the golf course and choose not to buy the amount of the encroachment would have to remove any fencing or landscaping on that portion of their backyard. Residents whose yards are not encroaching merely have the choice of whether to purchase extra space for their backyard.
Kirkland said they haven’t begun to come up with a time frame for people who may have to remove fencing or landscaping.
For those property owners who decided to participate in the program, Kirkland said they would negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with each individual property owner. He said the survey and maps will take about six months.
“Sometime around November or December, the final map will be complete, and everyone will have to come sign the map,” he said.
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