A closed and now dilapidated golf course in Ahwatukee must remain a golf course, according to a ruling by a superior court judge.
Judge John Hannah ruled that the property that once housed the Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club, which has been closed since 2013, was intended to be used as a golf course.
TTLC (The True Life Companies) Ahwatukee Lakes Investors, LLC, the owners of the land, want to build homes on the property. The neighboring community does not; they want the golf course to be re-built and maintained.
Two residents, Linda W. Swain and Eileen T. Breslin, filed a lawsuit to force the owners to maintain the golf course, which has since become brown and withered.
Hannah's ruling comes based upon the interpretation of a document signed in 1992 which "required the operation of a golf course on the subject property for the benefit of those described in the document as Benefited Persons."
"We are very happy with the ruling," said Swain in a prepared statement. "This was a classic example of the big guys with money trying to push their weight around, and we were able to stop them!"
In February, a building on the golf course caught fire and was completely destroyed.
