Staying the (golf) course?

As community officials begin exploring whether to renew the Needham Golf Club's lease, the controversy over whether members of a private golf course should have nearly exclusive use of town-owned land is heating up again.

The nonprofit club rents 58 acres of town property. Its supporters want to continue the century-old tradition of having a nine-hole golf course in Needham. However, residents who want to utilize the land for less exclusive purposes are hoping that Town Meeting will vote down any measure that would extend the lease, which expires in April 2009.

At the heart of the issue lies the question: Should public land be used for a private club that has a two-year waiting list and charges membership dues?

Critics of the golf club say tax-paying residents should not be restricted from using the land. Some believe the Board of Selectmen should use the land to construct a new school or senior center to provide facilities to more residents.

"It's closed space for most," said Needham resident Rick Freedman, who spoke at an Oct. 16 forum on the golf-club lease that was organized by town officials. "It's only for a few."

Freedman and other opponents argued that even though 90 percent of the club's 611 members are Needham residents, that number is still a small fraction of the town's roughly 30,000 residents.

At a time when the town is worried about overcrowding in its schools, a rapidly aging senior population, and calls for property tax increases, officials could find a more practical use for the land, opponents say.

However, supporters of the club say it is open to nonmember residents for part of Sunday and Monday as well as all day Tuesday. Residents can also use the grounds during the winter months for sledding, cross-country skiing, and hiking, they note.

The Board of Selectmen will determine whether the land will remain a golf course or will be used for another purpose. If the board decides to keep it a golf course, the town will begin accepting bids in January from organizations interested in leasing the property, said chairman Gerald Wasserman.

Town Meeting will have final say over whether the lease goes forward, he added.

Complicating the matter is the club's desire to enter into a lease that's longer than the traditional 10-year term, though the actual length of the lease would be determined once negotiations on the club's bid began.

The club is hoping for at least a 20-year lease to make it financially feasible to upgrade the clubhouse by expanding the kitchen and deck.

In arguing for its preservation as a golf course, supporters use phrases like "green oasis" and "Emerald Necklace" in describing the site.

"I think the golf course is a wonderful asset to the town," said Erik Bailey, a Needham resident who does not play golf but believes the club takes better care of the land than the town could. "I love seeing it from the train. . . . I love walking by it."

The golf club has been "an excellent steward" of the land, protecting the water supply and one of the few remaining open spaces in Needham, said Paul Kelly, a 17-year member of the club.

"The open space is an amenity for the entire community," Kelly said, noting that the high school's golf team practices at the club.

"We believe it is in the best interest of the town," he said, "to keep this land undeveloped."

Nonmembers play more than 2,100 rounds of golf annually at the club, Kelly added.

Despite that statistic, others have argued that the town should operate a municipal golf course open to all Needham residents, rather than having a private club with initiation fees of up to $5,000.

Several members of the Board of Selectmen felt the town could not afford to run the golf course.

Wasserman said he couldn't "in good conscience put the town at risk" by taking over the financial responsibility. Selectman Dan Matthews said other towns, such as Natick, have lost money on their golf courses, and the lease, which requires the club to pay about $260,000 a year in rent, gives Needham a predictable source of revenue.

Golf course critics, however, counter that the town consistently undervalues the land to give the club a tax break. One of these critics, Alan Fanger, said the town loses out on about $55,000 in taxes annually because the property is improperly assessed.

Fanger said that the golf course should have to pay that additional sum, which would bring the cost up to $315,000 a year, since otherwise "each taxpayer in this town is effectively subsidizing" the club.

The town also needs to implement an independent study of alternative uses for the land, he said.

"I just want them to study all possible uses of the land," Fanger said. "Are we maximizing the revenue we could be getting? Is there enough public access to what is public land?"