After nearly two hours of hearing arguments on both sides, a judge requested more documents before deciding a verdict.
For at least another week, the lawsuit battles between Visions Golf LLC and the Walden Lake Community Association will continue.
On Friday, April 1, Walden Lake residents gathered at the Plant City Courthouse for a hearing on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit between Visions Golf, the company that owns the two 18-hole golf courses in the Walden Lake community, and the WLCA.
Currently, Visions Golf is trying to get one of the golf courses rezoned for residential development, including single-family and multifamily homes. At the April 1 hearing, Walden Lake residents showed up dressed in red to show they opposed the proposed rezone.
The motion to dismiss was filed by Visions. One of the main reasons sited for the request for dismissal by the company's lawyer, Alice Huneycutt, was that the WLCA has no standing, specifically because the golf was not one of the properties listed in the association's master declaration.
"Covenants must have been made with or for the benefit of one seeking to enforce them," Huneycutt said. "In that respect … there is clearly no standing for the master association."
The WLCA's lawyers argued that when the master plan for Walden Lake was filed with the City of Plant City years ago, it included the golf course and deed restrictions, including setback and fence restrictions.
"The (WLCA) association is a successor," Nina Tran, one of the WLCA's lawyers, said. "As a result, they do have standing."
Tran added that in addition to the WLCA having standing in the case, each of the individual lots that bordered the golf course also have standing.
The judge presiding over the case, Laurel M. Lee, requested further documentation from both counsels before making a decision. The papers will be submitted within seven days, and a decision will be made later.
We will update this story as details are released.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.
