Orangetown Seeking Flexibility With Broadacres Golf Course Land

Orangetown sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) in the hopes of finding private management to take over Broadacres Golf Course in Orangeburg in May.

Though that process is still ongoing, the town council voted last week to pass three pieces of legislation designed to give Orangetown more options with the property. The town is requesting home rule legislation from New York State that would allow use of Broadacres to be used as something other than park land, which is its current designation.

The Orangetown Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday morning regarding the next step in the process. 

"It's a parallel track," Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart said. "If we work really hard and really fast to get the requests and background materials into Albany, but the session is about to end. The land can't be used for something else unless the Assembly, Senate and the governor sign off on compensating land."

The town would designate another part or other parts of the Rockland Psychiatric Center Property as park land in its place. The council is discussing options for park land by Lake Tappan.

"In this case, the public has wanted waterfront access for years on Lake Tappan," Stewart said. "We know of at least one place (we would use). We could alienate one area and build another package of compensating land of equal or greater value."

Stewart expressed doubt whether the agreement could be reached in time during the town board meeting June 11, but he and the other Councilmen felt it was worth the attempt. 

"The next step, which I am putting on the agenda for Tuesday (workshop meeting June 18), is to have a waterfront park schematic design made," Stewart said. "In order to designate those lands as compensation for Broadacres, we need to be able to say which land and how to survey the boundary of it and provide the state with that information."

If the state does sign off on the alienation of Broadacres as park land, it could still be used as a golf course. In 2012, Stewart proposed closing Broadacres and cutting the golf course's funding was part of his proposed budget for 2013 because the course loses money each year, but other members of the town council voted to keep it open, but look for private management. Stewart said he intends to once again call for cutting funding to Broadacres in the 2014 budget. Bringing in private management would allow for that change and keep the course open.

"The town board may put it back in, but I won't start with it in," Stewart said. "With a private manager in, we could start getting out from under that quarter million dollars (deficit) each year."