Rebuilding of Apache Wells center on hold

Plans to tear down and rebuild the Apache Wells community center are temporarily on hold after residents opposed to the project filed a lawsuit in Superior Court late last week.

The retro-style building on Hermosa Vista Drive at the center of the battle is home to a restaurant, a pro shop, a meeting hall and a detached fitness center.

It is owned and operated by the Apache Wells Country Club, but last month, a narrow majority of homeowners approved plans in a contentious election to transfer the property rights to the Apache Wells Homeowners Association so the building can be torn down and rebuilt.

The election granted the HOA the authority to assess each household a one-time cost of $6,020 or $50 a month, to help pay for the new $8.5 million building.

The 485 country club stakeholders, almost all of whom also live in Apache Wells, also approved the deal in a separate vote.

The HOA was slated to begin collecting the money for the project on April 2, but the board’s attorney, Eric Jackson, advised the HOA to temporarily halt the collection of fees until he can read through the 17-page lawsuit, which accuses the HOA and country club board members of everything from having conflicts of interest and withholding information to hosting a flawed election.

“We’d like an opportunity to review the allegations to see if there is any support for the allegations, and then we’ll make a determination of how to respond,” said Jackson, who said he plans to meet with his client this week.

More than 80 people are plaintiffs in the suit, all of whom are supporters of the Save Apache Wells grassroots organization that fought the project.

One of the group’s biggest concerns was the fact that plans for the center were conceived in part by people who serve or have served on the country club board, the HOA board and the community Long Range Planning Committee, a subcommittee created by the HOA.

The suit alleges that because members of the country club dominated the HOA and the Long Range Planning Committee, board members failed to act in the interest of the homeowners and “sought to conceal they were unreasonably influenced by their present financial duties and obligations they owed to the country club.”

The suit further alleges that board members were “secretive” and tried to “distort information” so the plans would pass.

During the special election, the suit claims that board members did not store the ballots in a secure place and required homeowners to disclose their addresses on ballots in order to “intimidate” voters.

Judi Teague, a Save Apache Wells member, declined to discuss the suit without consulting the group’s lawyers, but said that all homeowners are welcome to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. today in Room A of the “strip mall” building at 2247 N. 65th St.

Steve Cheifetz and Stewart Gross, attorneys for Save Apache Wells supporters, will be there to answer questions.