The owners of the Twin Lakes Golf Course and the Twin Lakes Homeowners Association have tried to scare the Twin Lakes residents into believing that the golf course land could be redeveloped with houses, condos, etc.

However, this matter was already discussed in a Washington State Supreme Court case between Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club vs. King County.

In this three-page Supreme Court decision (April 15, 1978) the court says: “To obtain the PUD (planned unit development) zoning, the developer was required to set aside and reserve lands for common open space as required by the King County zoning code.” This indicated that the property would remain open space free of buildings and other structures.

The court also concluded that “The Country Club cannot alter the present recreational use of the open space.”

It is important to recognize that the lawyers for Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club argued to the Supreme Court that the assessed value of this golf course land should be $0 and therefore should pay no real estate taxes because the golf course land cannot be used for anything other than a golf course.

I should note that the Washington State Supreme Court agreed with the Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club lawyers and the golf course had no market value and that the taxes previously paid should be refunded.

When I talked about this case at the Town Hall meeting on Nov. 19, the homeowners association was not even aware of this important case on the Twin Lakes Golf Course.

My point is there is a lot of fear-mongering based upon no factual information regarding potential redevelopment.

To read the 1978 Washington Supreme Court case of Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club vs. King County, go to www.legalwa.org. Near the top of the page will be a line that reads “Washington State Supreme & Appellate Court Decisions.” Clink on this, which is one of the three choices. Near the top left-hand corner will be a search area, which says “Search for documents containing all these words,” type in “Twin Lakes Golf” and then click “search.”

A few WA Supreme court cases will come up in the search. The Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club vs. King County case will be at the top. (Other cases show up in the search because they refer or talk about this 1978 Twin Lakes case).

Philip Pinkstaff, Twin Lakes