Country club options few, future uncertain
No decision has been made on proposals for the Reading Country Club golf course and banquet facility.
The Exeter Township supervisors held a town hall meeting Wednesday night to introduce proposals from four developers and gather feedback from residents.
Close to 200 people filled the seats of the banquet room in the township-owned clubhouse/restaurant at 5311 Perkiomen Ave. (Route 422).
The supervisors retained real estate firm High Associates of Lancaster to execute a two-step approach to help determine the future of the country club property. Phase 1, a request for qualifications, last year generated four proposals.
Supervisor David Speece, former golf course general manager, facilitated the town hall meeting.
“We received three proposals for development and one for optimizing the existing property,” he said. “So there are really just two choices.”
Resurgent Golf Advisors, which operates the Olde Homestead Gold Course near Allentown, was the only developer to express interest in operating the gold course and banquet facility on the property.
Golden Group of Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; Ironwood Property Group of Upper Merion Township, Montgomery County; and High Real Estate Group of Lancaster each proposed developing the property for mixed uses, including recreation, retail, hospitality and housing.
All four proposals are available for review at the township website at www. exetertownship.com. Township residents are encouraged to review the proposals and offer comment, Speece said. Comments can be emailed to the supervisors by visiting the township website.
Moving into Phase 2, the supervisors will interview the developers and start the RFP process.
Public wants preservation
Residents present were overwhelmingly in favor of preserving the historic golf course, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
During the public comment period, the majority of those who spoke were in favor of preserving the golf course and finding a tenant for the restaurant.
One resident, Jerry
Geleff, a former member of the Exeter Township School Board, was booed when he urged residents to keep nostalgia and emotions out of their opinions and to look at the business side of the proposals.
“It is not sustainable,” Geleff said. “Golf is a dying sport. Dump this place now.”
By maintaining the golf course, the township is subsidizing the hobby of a minority, he said.
Others who spoke in favor of keeping the property as a golf course said they were not golfers, but wished to see the green space preserved.
“If we let this go, it is going to be gone forever,” one man said.
Another resident recommended that the property be developed as recreational area with walking and biking trails.
“Find a way to manage it better and keep it green,” he said.
Some golfers also spoke in favor of preserving the course.
Golfer Rennie Sacco said residents need to understand that the township is unable to pay off the country club debt early. If the club property is sold, Sacco said, residents still will be paying off the debt for a property they no longer own.
“Vote, vote, vote,” some chanted in response to a suggestion that a question regarding the future of the golf course be placed on the ballot.
Speece explained that the state municipal code limits what can be placed on the ballot as a referendum.
A decision on the next move is expected to be made later this year, Supervisor Michelle Kirshner said. She recommended residents check the township website regularly and attend monthly meetings to stay informed.