West Orange May Develop Part Of Rock Spring Golf Club, Officials Say

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange town officials are considering developing part of the Rock Spring Golf Club to help cover its overhead and purchase price, administrators say.

On Thursday, town officials gave a presentation about the financial situation at the municipally owned golf course (watch the video below). Nothing is set in stone about plans for the course or the potential timeline, town attorney Richard Trenk said.

For decades, Rock Spring operated as a private country club. But about seven years ago, the Montclair Golf Club merged with it, planning to complement its 36-hole golf course located on the border of West Orange and Verona. However, the Montclair Golf Club ultimately decided to sell the property.

Essex County briefly considered purchasing the property before township officials stepped in, hoping to prevent it from being turned into a residential development.

In 2019, the town inked an $11.28 million deal to purchase the 138-acre Rock Spring Club, which has a 6,600-yard, par-71 golf course. The West Orange Township Council approved a $12 million bond ordinance to pay the purchase price.

The club’s golf course has since been converted into a public, daily fee golf facility, which opened in May 2019.

Here’s the problem, officials say – it’s costing a pretty penny to keep the course open.

The annual budget impact since the acquisition is $1,285,987, according to figures presented Thursday by the town’s chief financial officer, John Gross, and financial advisor, Michael Hanley. That includes lost tax revenue, debt service for the bonds, and ongoing maintenance costs and capital expenses.

Mayor Susan McCartney, who was a member of the town council at the time of the purchase, said she and her peers voted to approve the deal with the intent of preserving the 138 acres of land – a decision that got a standing ovation from meeting attendees when it happened three years ago.

But from the get-go, town officials had proposed that a small portion of the site could possibly be developed, all while “preserving the integrity of the course,” she added.

Trenk later showed a slide citing a February 2019 presentation made by former mayor Robert Parisi, which was done before the council purchase was finalized. That slide mentions several possibilities for “small scale residential development” of 15 to 18 acres of land, including 175 residential units with affordable housing.

Several people voiced concerns about the town’s plans during a public comment portion of the meeting, with one speaker calling for a full environmental assessment before any development takes place.

Some people expressed frustrations over increased traffic in the area and a loss of privacy, and called for more green space instead of more buildings. Others worried that development might negatively impact the golf course, one of only two public courses in the United States designed by architect Seth Raynor.

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