'A very big victory.' Florida homeowners win lawsuit to protect golf course

USA Today

02-03-2025

'A very big victory.' Florida homeowners win lawsuit to protect golf course
Neighbors are celebrating a victory in their battle to protect the Riviera Golf Course from development.
A circuit court judge has ruled the property in East Naples must remain a golf course until 2030.
While the effect of the ruling may only be to delay development, the neighbors will continue fighting it on other fronts, in hopes of stopping it.
"We are going to continue to advance our interests. And we are going to continue to do everything we can to make sure that there is not development on that property, which is our floodplain and our safety," said Peter Osinski, a board director for Riviera Golf Estates, and a chairman of its Golf Course Working Group.
The Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association sued the property's owners for declaratory and injunctive relief in 2022, over their attempts to build homes on the land.
The current owners, La Minnesota, based in Lilydale, Minnesota, purchased the public golf course for $4.8 million in 2005, with redevelopment in mind.
Located off Rattlesnake Hammock Road, just west of County Barn Road, the course has been closed since April 2022.
"This verdict will have significant implications for RGE (Riviera Golf Estates) and the property owners, as well as Collier County's approach to the many legal and regulatory issues related to this land," Osinski said.
Other coverage: Collier commissioners reject settlement to save East Naples golf course based on poll
And: Legal settlement could protect an East Naples golf course from development
Judge finds restrictive covenant still runs with the land
In its lawsuit, the homeowners association claimed the property's owners/developers are still bound by a "recorded covenant" that requires the land to be used solely as a golf course, and for "no other purpose."
In her ruling, Collier Circuit Judge Lauren Brodie agreed, finding the restrictive covenant continues to run with the land, based on a chain of deeds.
She determined the covenant remains valid and enforceable – until August 18, 2030.
That date is based on what the judge determined to be the "root of title," or root deed for the property. The recording of a 1990 deed included a copy of a 1973 deed containing the restrictive covenant as an exhibit.
A title transfer in 2000 did not reference the official record books and page numbers for the 1973 or 1990 deeds, or the affidavit tied to the covenant.
Based on Florida's Marketable Record Title Act, Brodie found the 2000 deed couldn't become the root deed, or new starting point, until 30 years after the day of its recording.
The act allows most recorded documents to be ignored after that many years, to simplify the purchase and sale of property.
"There's no doubt we won a big victory," Osinski said. "A very big victory."
He described the ruling as more of a "cease fire" in a war that could be far from over. "We see this as a suspension of this operation, not the resolution," Osinski said.
He pointed out La Minnesota could appeal the ruling.
"We are operating on the assumption that they will," Osinski said. "However, only time will tell."
The judge ruled on Feb. 6, following a one-day bench trial in late December. An appeal must be filed within 30 days, so there's only a short window for the opposing side to decide whether to take that route.
An attorney for La Minnesota could not immediately be reached for comment on the ruling, or its next steps.
More: Riviera Golf Club course in East Naples to close April 30; neighbors hope to keep view
Judge didn't side with homeowners on everything
The homeowners association didn't get everything it wanted in its legal battle.
It also sought to force La Minnesota to operate a golf course, until the protective covenant expires, on the 94-acre site. The judge said she had neither the will, nor the power to do so, with the property owners objecting to the demands, Osinski said.
As part of her judgment, Brodie affirmed the drainage easements on the property are enforceable, but she didn't agree with the association's contention they couldn't or shouldn't be disturbed.
Instead, the judge ruled that any future development should be done in "a way that does not adversely affect" the drainage for the Riviera Golf Estates community. That could make development more difficult, or restrictive, Osinski said, so he still views it as a positive outcome for neighbors.
Riviera Golf Estates, a 55-plus gated community, built between 1967 and 2003, has nearly 700 homes. It's intertwined with the 18-hole golf course.
In November 2021, La Minnesota filed an intent to convert application with Collier County's Planning & Zoning Department, initiating the process needed to change the golf course zoning to residential. It faced an uphill battle, triggering a lawsuit against the county, brought under Florida's Bert Harris property rights act.
In that suit, La Minnesota claimed they'd been "inordinately burdened" by the county's new rules for rezoning a golf course.
They alleged golf course conversion rules adopted in 2017 had burdened "the reasonably foreseeable residential use of the property with new cumbersome processes and new development standards."
La Minnesota asserted the county's requirement for a larger greenway, instead of a traditional buffer to shield its development from the surrounding community would reduce the number of single-family homes it could build on its property from 346 to 104.
The developers valued their property losses – equating to 242 homes – at $14.52 million.
The county asked for a "stay," or pause, in that legal spat, until the lawsuit filed by the Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association in the same court was resolved. La Minnesota agreed to the county's request.
If the court sided with the association, the county reasoned the Bert Harris claims would then become "moot," as La Minnesota wouldn't be able to build homes on the site anyway.
"There is no longer an ability to apply for the rezone, because the property must stay a golf course. It's only permitted use is a golf course until 2030. So, the Bert Harris case becomes moot, or suspended," Osinski said.
He added: "I'm sure the county is a little relieved about that."
The county's policy is not to comment on pending litigation.
Homeowners association 'not giving up'
If La Minnesota's Bert Harris lawsuit is revived, Osinski said his homeowners association intends to intervene, in support of the county. The association, he said, has unearthed information that could cast doubt on the viability of the case.
"It is our intention to keep fighting and advocating, and we're not giving up," Osinski said.
That includes advocating for no changes to the golf course conversion rules
County staff has been working to revise them, in part to make them more legally defensible. The current rules have resulted in multiple Bert Harris property rights claims by developers and landowners.
In December, Collier commissioners approved a legal settlement that resolved two lawsuits brought by the owners of The Links of Naples golf course over difficulties they faced in trying to develop their property, in part due to uncertainty over the conversion rules.
That course sits off U.S. 41 East, not far from Collier Boulevard. The settlement will allow up to 369 homes to be built on the property, or more than four units per acre.
In that case, the conversion regulations ultimately did not apply.
Now, the only Bert Harris suit left is the one involving the Riviera Golf Course.
"Our contention to the county is that there is far more downside than upside to changing the regulations at all," Osinski said. "Most of the things you are afraid of have pretty much been resolved, and taken care of."
The statute of limitations has run out for other golf course owners to file Bert Harris claims over the conversion rules, unless the rules are updated, starting the clock all over again, he said.
If revisions are made, he suggested the county could face new claims by hundreds of neighbors, who purchased their homes after the rules were adopted in 2017 and relied on them for protection.
"In fact, the county's own studies established that residential development of golf courses can reduce neighboring property values by as much as 31%," Osinski said. "By changing these regulations or even eliminating them, they are asking for a whole bunch more problems."
After reviewing the proposed revisions in August, the Collier County Planning Commission sent county staff back to the drawing board, finding the tweaks went too far, and would mostly benefit developers, not the surrounding neighbors they're designed to protect.
On the whole, the rules would have been trimmed from nine pages to two.
More: Proposed changes to Collier's golf course conversion rules go back to drawing board
County commissioners could consider a revised proposal with fewer changes to the conversion process on March 11.
"We are concerned that the board may decide to bypass the planning commission, and possibly do away with the regulations altogether," Osinski said.