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History
In 1984, all of the golf course property
was owned by Ryan Homes, which wanted to develop 1200
homes, Council, however, took exception to that plan. At
that time, Council was putting in a lot of time and
planning into restructuring the zoning. Ryan Homes and
Council didn't like any of the solutions offered and they
ended up in the Court of Common Pleas. The Judge heard both
sides of the story and he told both parties to find a
solution and then return with a decision. The whole
situation took close to 4 years to solve. By that time,
market requirements for homes were changing, and finally
Ryan Homes had to reduce their housing plan by around 500
homes, which pleased Council. By the time Ryan Homes and
Council agreed to work on the solution, Ryan Homes had
dropped the number of units again to a final total of
245.
Because Ryan Homes did not need this land any
longer the firm agreed to let Franklin Park Borough acquire
the six existing golf course holes and purchase the other
land for a nominal fee if the Borough agreed to pay taxes
on the property for ten years. The Borough's budget for the
golf course was about $500,000. That included fees for an
architect who redesigned the property to install three new
holes to the six holes already on land occupied by the
former Keystone Moose Country Club.
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