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Jim Wilkerson January
27, 2003 RE:
Reject Budget Amendment #381 – Occoneechee State Park Land Swap Dear Members of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Economic Development and Natural Resources, My name is Jim Wilkerson, and for the past 18 months I have opposed plans to construct three golf holes through Occoneechee State Park, and extending to the lakefront of Kerr Lake. The golf proponents want to take 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park forests to locate part of this golf course on. There are currently no golf courses in Virginia State Parks. In the past few days Delegate Tommy Wright and Senator Frank Ruff have introduced budget amendment #381 in the House and Senate which is titled ‘Occoneechee State Park Land Swap.’ The House version ‘authorizes’ the Department of Conservation and Recreation to sublease 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park (contingent on approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) to the Town of Clarksville in exchange for comparable property currently owned by the Town and access by the park to Town utilities. The Senate version goes even further and “directs” the Department of Conservation and Recreation to sublease the 23 acres. Aside from the fact that locating golf courses in VA State parks has been proven to be a bad economic and conservation idea, both versions of budget amendment # 381 attempt to bypass and interfere with the protocol of SB249. SB249 was signed into law in April 2002, was designed to include adequate public processes and decision-making safeguards, and requires approval from the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Attorney General and the Governor, in order to determine if, for the first time ever, VA State Park land will be taken to build a golf course on. Budget Amendment #381 is unnecessary and should be rejected. It conflicts with the intent of SB249. Its affect is to apply political pressure on the DCR and others. #381 attempts to supplant the public will, public scrutiny and current public policy on this issue. The VA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is charged with being the steward of our State Park land. #381 is an attempt to diminish the DCR’s role in the decision making process, because the patrons of #381 feel the DCR will not support their efforts to put a golf course in a VA State Park. Over the past few months, some 4000 people have expressed their opposition to golf in Occoneechee, to the DCR and others. Less than 700 people have expressed support for the golf course to the DCR. Of those expressing their position on this matter, there is a 6 to 1 margin of citizens opposed to golf in a VA State Park. This 6 to 1 margin against the golf in Occoneechee has been confirmed by the DCR as being consistent with its findings of public opinion statewide regarding golf in VA State parks, and consistent with the findings in the Virginia Outdoors Plan. Therefore, over 80% of those responding are opposed to locating a golf course in a VA State Park. The Town of Clarksville does not own any land that is comparable to the 23 acres of State Park land in question. This 23 acres of park land is lake front property and entirely bisects the State Park. The Town of Clarksville does not own lake front property that could be swapped for the 23 acres of State Park property. Losing the 23 acres of State Park property would also completely cut the park in half. Presently the park is made up of a continuous forest. Amendment #381 would put a golf course right in the middle of the park, bisecting the entire width of the park, and as a result the park would be cut in half, thereby requiring traditional park users to cross the golf course when traveling from one part of the State Park to the other. There is not another piece of property that can make the park whole again once the 23 acres are clear-cut for a golf course. These 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park land are also considered sacred by the Occoneechee-Siouan Indians. The VA Council on Indians has indicated its opposition to the Governor regarding locating part of a golf course in Occoneechee State Park. Other organizations and people as well, have formally expressed their opposition to the golf course. Some of these are, the NAACP Chapter of Mecklenburg County, Brunswick County Historical Society, High Plains Saponi Indians of Halifax, VA, Audubon Society, Richmond Times Dispatch, VA Forestry Watch, Southside Concerned Citizens, Sierra Club of VA, Southside Virginia Native American Descendants Association. Virginia Native Plant Society, The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, VA, 30 members of the VA House of Delegates, and the Chairman of the VA Board of Conservation and Recreation. These 23 acres of Occoneechee State Park land consist of 50 to 100 year-old hardwood trees. This is a natural and mature forest. The land the Town of Clarksville proposes to ‘swap’ is made up of scrub pines, having been clear-cut and artificially re-planted in the past decade or so. It would take many decades for this pine ‘scrub forest’ to mature, and it would take approx. 100 years for the hardwoods to be replaced. There are also serious issues regarding the pollution of Kerr Lake from the tons of herbicide, pesticide, and fertilizer that would run-off from the golf course directly into Kerr Lake. The Sam Snead outfit wants the
precedent to be set for locating golf courses in VA State Parks, and they
want as much free land as possible from various government entities.
Occoneechee State Park is public land, not commercial land.
If the Snead’s golf course cannot survive without State Park
land, then perhaps it doesn’t hold so much promise.
The great majority of Virginians are not willing to, in essence,
subsidize golf courses by giving away our public and State Park
lands…forever. In
a 1998 letter from the VA Tourism Corporation to then Secretary of
Commerce and Trade, Barry Duval, summarizing a meeting with the Sneads, it
was stated, “there is a
scarcity of investors or community funds to develop the Snead’s concept. They (the Sneads) were hopeful that the Commonwealth might
give them financial assistance or that the sites would be located on state
property.” Also, it was
acknowledged that “ States such as West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have state-supported golf courses…
have never recovered their initial construction costs, and operate with
state subsidies.” It is
obvious the Snead’s concept does not make good business sense, so they
are looking to the Commonwealth and U.S. government for resources, at the
expense of citizens and private sector golf businesses.
A
quote last year by the VA Tourism Authority related to potential budget
cuts, stated; “The Virginia Tourism Authority claimed it wouldn’t be
cutting any jobs, vacant or otherwise, but said it would stop marketing
golf courses and cruise tourism. The
marketing hasn’t worked anyway, it said.
Only 4% of pleasure visitors include golf in their experience. 28% of golfers come from Virginia. Of the golfers from outside the Commonwealth, almost half
(48%) stay with friends and relatives with minimal impact on visitor
tourism spending.” One
very important point that has been consistently avoided by many of the
golf proponents is that, Clarksville currently has a semi-private golf
course known as one of the most outstanding courses on the Eastern
seaboard…Kinderton Golf Course and Country Club.
Anyone who lives more than 25 miles from Clarksville can play this
course without being a member, and the cost to play is less than the
projected cost for playing at the proposed Snead course.
Kinderton is located within sight of Occoneechee State Park and the
proposed Snead course. Therefore,
any tourists visiting Clarksville already have a first-class golf course
available to them. Why do
we need another one? I’m a
member at Kinderton. Many of
the folks who belong to Kinderton, including some of the people who work
there, are becoming increasingly concerned that another golf course will
do nothing more than ruin Kinderton.
This doesn’t mean “new” jobs for Clarksville…it’s just
swapping jobs from one business to another.
There is no proven overall net gain in jobs from this. What
is the economic reason for another golf course at Clarksville?
The golf business nationwide has been declining for the past 2 ½
years, according to a New York Times article last year. The
proposed golf course is not the “job engine” proponents portray it to
be. No one has produced
definitive information indicating this golf course will provide net
additional new jobs for Clarksville, and no feasibility studies have been
released to the public which identify the potential financial benefits or
risks associated with this project. The
project will employ only 12-15 people.
5 will be management and supervisory positions, mostly filled by
people from outside of Clarksville. The
remaining 7-10 jobs will be seasonal full and part-time, with earnings
only slightly above minimum wage, and in most instances no benefits. This
golf course project is not primarily about new jobs or attracting
additional tourists to Clarksville. It
is mostly about setting a precedent for golf in more VA State Parks in the
future. The Sneads hope to
get more public land from VA to open additional golf courses in more VA
State Parks. The Snead folks,
along with various officials and others, attempted to locate a golf course
in Douthat State Park, in Allegheny County.
That effort failed. They
also tried the “land swap” scheme.
That failed too. They provided sketchy and incomplete information,
and data that was refuted in subsequent studies, and which did not meet
the requirements of even a basic good business plan.
We have the same situation facing us now,
from those who are trying to force this project through in
Occoneechee. It’s the
“say anything to get the deal, we can always apologize later”
mentality. The
Sneads have also tried to locate golf in Pocahontas State Park and Sky
Meadows State Park…and who knows which other State Parks tomorrow?
Given Clarksville’s economic difficulties, Occoneechee has become
the golf proponents’ best chance (where others have failed) to take
control of VA State Park and public lands for private development. There
is a statewide network of real-estate developers who want this precedent
to be set. The realtors want
golf in State Parks to lower the golf course construction costs, and as
amenities to promote the building and sale of houses around the golf
courses. This is much more
about housing developments, than recreation or tourism.
The primary beneficiaries of this golf course, and the housing
development would be the Sneads and a few local real-estate
developers…at the expense of our public resources.
Over 80% of Virginians are opposed to having their State Park lands
contaminated this way. Occoneechee
State Park belongs to all the citizens of the Commonwealth. As evidence of the precedent setting
intent and nature of this effort to locate golf in Occoneechee State Park,
I refer you to the comments below, which appeared in one of our local
newspapers earlier this year. FYI,
Charlie Simmons is the Chairman of the Clarksville Industrial Development
Authority, operates a local real estate business, and has been the primary
person responsible for pushing this issue along. On Feb
27 2002 in the News Progress and talking about the golf
course and Senate Bill 249 (Ruff) Charlie Simmons was quoted as
saying " such projects
would improve recreational aspects of state parks at no additional cost to
taxpayers. This legislation (SB249) is an important tool for many
municipalities to use to further improve recreational activities at nearby
state parks." In
the April 10, 2002 News Progress
and talking about the fact the Governor had recently signed SB249, the
article contained the following statements: “The state park leases
property from the federal government,” said Clarksville Industrial
Development Authority Chairman Charlie Simmons. “What we wanted to
do was lease approximately 23 acres from the state to allow for the three
waterfront golf holes.” Up until this time, no law
was in place to allow municipalities to utilize portions of state park
property for specific recreational development projects, officials said. To help Clarksville
and other municipalities improve development opportunities, Senator Frank
Ruff drafted Senate Bill 249, which would allow the state to lease park
property for specific approved projects such as the planned golf course.
According to Simmons, that bill was signed into law
Monday by Governor Warner, and now the town can move forward to seek
federal approval. “We have
the support of many state officials concerning this project,” Simmons
said. “Now we have to convince the federal government to support
the state's efforts.” Simmons
explained that the bill involved a lot more than just Clarksville's
project, and that many municipalities could improve recreational aspects
of parks with projects designed to increase tourism without major
construction projects. Clarksville’s own golf course feasibility study conducted in February
2001 by the National Golf Foundation concluded; “Overall, it appears
that given the projected cost of this project, the level of play needed
for the proposed golf facility to be self-sufficient would be considerably
greater than the average rounds played in this market.”
The proponents do not have a viable business plan. It is likely you will hear from the golf proponents
that if they don’t get the 3 golf holes on the water, that the Sneads
and other potential developers will not consider building a golf course
near Clarksville. Again, the
primary goal here is to set the precedent of locating the first golf course in a VA State Park. The effort to set a precedent of locating golf
courses in VA State Parks is in total contradiction to the wishes of the
948,000 VA citizens who voted on November 5, 2002 to spend $119 million
(including $4 million for Occoneechee State Park) to improve VA’s State
Parks and Natural Areas by enhancing traditional park programs and
acquiring new park and natural area lands. Certainly
we should not allow the taking of our State Park land and public natural
resources for the benefit of a few, at the expense of all the rest of us.
Allowing golf in Occoneechee would be a radical departure from the
decades of good stewardship that led to Virginia’s State Parks receiving
the National Gold Medal and State Park Award for having the best state
parks in the nation…..and that was all without bulldozing the equivalent
of 21 football fields of Occoneechee State Park forests. Please
reject budget amendment #381 – Occoneechee State Park Land Swap. Sincerely, Jim
Wilkerson |