Newport clubs lawsuit nearing end

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- For years, Robert O Hill, whose company owns the land

at the Newport Beach Country Club, didn’t have a problem with the changes

his tenants made to the property.

He actually liked that the club’s owner, International Bay Clubs Inc.,

had transformed the course from a substandard, antiquated venue into a

first-class club.

“Most of the things that they have done, we applaud,” O Hill said.

But then he discovered that club officials had placed two back flow

pipes, which look a bit like an oversized fire hydrant, in the clubs’

parking lot.

He worried that the structure presented a safety hazard and that a

private road running parallel to West Coast Highway, which lacked stop

signs, could potentially lead to car accidents when people tried to enter

or exit the property.

“By law, [club officials] are supposed to give us a chance to offer

our few cents,” O Hill said.

In his opinion, the 1992 lease agreement between him and club

officials required his written approval for any changes his tenants made

to the property.

Club officials saw it differently, saying they only had to get O

Hill’s consent for changes to buildings on the land.

“There’s no dispute that if we were to substantially alter [the

buildings,] we would have to get [O Hill’s] approval,” said Clinton

Hubbard, an attorney for the club.

But other changes, such as landscaping work on the golf course, was a

different matter, Hubbard argued.

“When it came time to do this work, we did it right,” Hubbard said.

“We enhanced the value, we did not decrease the value. . . In fact, we’re

not only entitled, we’re obligated to landscape.”

The dispute ended up in court after O Hill filed a law suit against

club officials in April 2000. After a two-week long trial at West Justice

Center in Westminster, Superior Court Judge Robert A. Knox issued a

tentative ruling Tuesday that gave a little to both sides.

While Knox rejected the claim that the pipes or the road presented

safety hazards, he upheld O Hill’s claim that club officials should have

sought the landlord’s consent on changes to the course.

“It just clarifies the rules for the next 41 years,” O Hill said,

adding that club officials have an option to extend the $1.8-million a

year lease for another 25 years.

The ruling also requires club officials to maintain property and

liability insurance that covers the entire golf course rather than just

buildings, O Hill said.

David Wooten, International Bay Clubs Inc.’s chief executive officer,

and club owner Beverly Ray, who both attended Tuesday’s court

proceedings, declined to comment on the case.

Club officials could not be reached Wednesday to confirm what kind of

insurance policies are in place for the golf course.

Knox is expected to issue a final ruling in the beginning of June, at

which time he’ll also address the issue of who will have to cover

attorney fees and costs for the law suit.