Visions Golf LLC, the company that wants to rezone and develop one of its 18-hole golf courses in Walden Lake, is seeking to collect attorneys’ fees between $75,000 to $100,00 from the Walden Lake Community Association and other plaintiffs involved in the first lawsuit against Visions Golf.
The motion for attorneys’ fees was filed Aug. 28, two days after Walden Lake Community Preservation Inc., filed a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit Aug. 26.
“Visions Golf has a right to attorneys’ fee as the prevailing party in the first filed lawsuit,” Alice Huneycutt, the lawyer for Visions Golf, said. “Under Florida law, if a party voluntarily dismisses its case, the defendant is deemed to be the prevailing party.”
Huneycutt said that Visions Golf is preparing the documentation to submit to the court for attorneys’ fees.
Harley Herman, the lawyer representing the WLCA, said that the motion for attorneys’ fees is a propaganda move. Since the motion for attorneys’ fees was first filed, the WLCA and Visions Golf have also been in the early phases of negotiations.
“Alleging you’re entitled to fees and being entitled to fees are two different things,” Herman said. “You’re not entitled to fees in every lawsuit. The fact that we’re talking is a positive thing.”
If Visions Golf is entitled to fees, the WLCA would have to pay an amount that corresponds with when the association joined the lawsuit. The WLCA joined the first lawsuit on June 15.
Though Visions Golf filed a motion for attorneys’ fees in August, the company has not yet requested a hearing date.
“Ultimately, it will be up to a judge,” Herman said. “We do not feel that there was any serious risk to the association.”
WLCA board directors and residents expressed concern over the potential legal fees at the association’s October meeting, but WLCA President Bob Hunter assured residents that the figure was only speculation and not something that could be budgeted for.
“They only filed,” Hunter said. “We’re moving on. From our perspective, we’re fine. It’s nothing to lose sleep over.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.