CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dozens of residents are calling on the city of Corpus Christi to hold the property owners accountable for the Kings Crossing Golf Course and Country Club.
On Thursday, many people voiced their concerns for the lack of maintenance on the property during a town hall meeting with city officials. The golf course has not been in use since December 2008.
Sue Hoyt has lived in the Kings Crossing area for close to two decades. She said she's seen the property in its most lively conditions.
However, now she's disappointed in how the property owners have wiped their hands clean of their responsibilities.
“We’re just so sad because it’s devalued our property," Hoyt said. "It could be such a beautiful facility. We were living on the golf course, so we had a lovely view on our backyard and it’s just sad how it is now."
During the meeting, Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni said he and city officials have been working closely to push the owners to make improvements to the land.
The city has even placed liens on the property while also issuing more than $100,000 in fines. In a lawsuit filed against the owners, they settled with paying what is called, "a window fine," which is only 30 percent of the total fine payment.
Even with all of the fines and citations, residents feel like the owners do not care and have the means to deal out money if they choose to without real consequence.
In an effort to crack down a little more, city officials said they will begin citing the property owners of the golf course every week until there aren't anymore lawn, property or city violations.
“Any part of the golf course that has a lawn violation above 12 inches, we’re going to start issuing the fines," Zanoni said.
Residents said they just want the owners to be held accountable for the eye sore they believe the golf course is causing to the community.
They're hoping one day the property can be revitalized and used for something else. Until then, some residents said they want the owners to just sell the property over to someone else.
“Just sell. Where it really hurts is when we look at our taxes and we realize that we are paying significant amount of taxes on our properties, but they aren’t on theirs," resident Kimberly Cronkhite said.
For now, the city is encouraging residents to be patient as they work to properly push this situation forward to make everyone in the neighborhood feel comfortable and at home.
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