2563-19 Rock Spring Purchase Ordinance.pdf

2563-19 Legislative History The Montclair Golf Club, a private not for profit corporation owning a thirty-six hole private golf club, twenty-seven holes of which are located in the Township of West Orange, and also owning the Rock Spring Club, another private eighteen-hole golf course, approximately 138 acres in size, located entirely in the Township of West Orange within its St. Cloud neighborhood, determined to sell the Rock Spring Club property to a private developer. The likely result of such a sale would be development of much of that 138 acres with single and multi-family homes with all of its collateral effect on traffic, the school system and significantly impacting the scope and expense of all municipal services. Seeking to avoid or at least ameliorate such impact, the Township of West Orange seeks to purchase the Rock Spring Club property for public mixed use as open space, recreational facilities, including golf as well as other forms of recreation, possibly using a small portion of the land for the Township’s Public Works facility, and possibly selling a portion of the acreage for private development. The intention is to preserve as much of the land as possible for open space and recreational use recognizing that the needs of the community are likely to change over time and maintaining flexibility to meet those changing needs will be most beneficial to the Township.