Oyster Bay may seize the Peninsula Golf Club through eminent domain to prevent a sale, according to Newsday.
The town board, fearing the 50-acre property will be developed, is set to vote this week to schedule a hearing on such an action.
P.G.C. Holding Corp in March agreed to sell the site to Florida-based Great American Properties.
The town has twice offered to buy the property for the sale price of $4.4 million, but didn’t meet requirements set by P.G.C. shareholders to allow a sale.
Those requirements were to keep staff employed for five years, give shareholders free tee times for 10 years, or pay shareholders if the property were developed in the future.
Town spokesman Brian Nevin said Friday that the buyer could redevelop the property, which is one of the last large non-residential properties left in the town, but didn’t provide any evidence that Great American Properties planned to do so.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said that the county would fight any attempts to redevelop the property. Eminent domain seizure typically requires a compelling public purpose to survive a court challenge.
[Newsday] — Dennis Lynch