Royal Oak Plans to Take Plan for Golf Course to Voters

Royal Oak plans to ask voters in November to give the city the go-ahead to sell a portion of the city-owned Normandy Oaks Golf Club to make room for a housing development, soccer fields and additional recreational amenities.

Before moving to put the measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, city officials want to run the idea past Royal Oak citizens, The Daily Tribune reports.  A public hearing is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, at the Mahany/Meininger Senior Center, 3500 Marais. At that time, a conceptual plan will be reviewed.

A conceptual plan, based on the recommendations of a task force, includes two soccer fields, walking trails, a splash pad/water park, picnic pavillion and sledding hill. Most of the green spaces would not be altered.

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• What uses would you like to see on the city-owned golf course?

Mayor Jim Ellis said the plan isn’t “etched in stone” and the goal is to redevelop the property to make it attractive to as many people as possible.

The city voted to permanently close the 50-acre golf course, located on Normandy east of Coolidge, earlier this year because of low usage.

The improvements would be financed mainly with the $4 million the city expects to get from the sale of 54 residential lots, which would be developed with houses in the $350,000-$400,000 range. When fully developed, the city would get another $79,000 annually in property tax revenue that would subsidize improvements at more than 50 public parks in the city.