Turnberry Golf Club, village of Lakewood in talks after dispute led to threat of disconnection

A yearlong dispute between the village of Lakewood and Turnberry Golf Club has culminated in a request from the club to disconnect from the village, tens of thousands of dollars in fines for code violations and an anonymous email sent around town accusing board leaders of having a political vendetta.

However, the two sides have been discussing a resolution in recent weeks, and both sides were optimistic this week that an agreement could be reached to resolve all of the issues.

In an update at Monday’s Village Board meeting, Lakewood Village President David Stavropoulos described a “productive meeting” earlier this month with Turnberry owner Sonny Oberoi and his attorney, Tom Burney, but said some issues still needed to be worked through.

While Burney wrote that the violations were “unsubstantiated” and “political payback” in a letter to the village last year, Oberoi told the Northwest Herald this week that the “bullying has stopped” and there has been more open communications.

“We would love to be part of Lakewood,” Oberoi said. “We have no innate desire to exit the city. We are just trying to protect our interests because the village’s actions have been anything but cordial in the last year.”

Oberoi said the village agreed to reconsider the fines, which total more than $70,000, while the golf club in turn will defer a McHenry County court hearing about steps to disconnect from the village.

The dispute initially stemmed from a series of code violations brought to the golf club’s attention last May, a month after the current Lakewood village president took office. Stavropoulos said in a letter to residents that it was residents of the Turnberry subdivision that initially brought concerns to the attention of village officials.

The alleged violations included an unsafe driving range structure, which was red-tagged and shut down by the village in July; failure to comply with international building, fire and village zoning codes; and lighting and electrical issues. Burney claimed in a letter to village attorneys that the red-tagging was unlawful.

The village said the driving range received permitting only after construction, which occurred in May 2020, and did not meet the city’s architectural review standards, in part because it was painted a different color from the clubhouse.

Oberoi said the previous administration approved the driving range and provided the city an unsigned document showing the range had received construction permits from the village a year before, in June 2020.

The village also raised concerns about a large cargo container on the premises, which the village said was not an authorized structure. The container remains on the premises, but Stavropoulos said an upcoming Planning and Zoning Commission meeting would look at amending village ordinance to allow for the cargo container to remain at Turnberry indefinitely.

One concern Crystal Lake Chief of Fire Rescue Paul DeRaedt brought to the attention of the village was in regards to the storage of Turnberry’s golf carts, which he thinks are being stored in the lower level of the country club. He also said two portable gasoline tanks do not appear to meet fire code requirements.

A review by the State Fire Marshal earlier this month indicated that the golf club was compliant with fire codes, Stavropoulos said at Monday’s Village Board meeting. The village still is waiting to hear back from the Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department.

As of March, the two tanks that initially caused concern were no longer onsite, Stavropoulos said.

The driving range also is back open.

The golf club took a financial hit during COVID-19, Oberoi said, but noted that 2021 “was a good year” and that “we will continue to be the best golf course in McHenry County.”

The golf club is adding pickleball courts and a basketball courts to the property grounds this year, Oberoi said, and mentioned the future possibility of batting cages.

Despite the optimistic tone at the Monday board meeting, Lakewood village officials, including village manager Jean Heckman and Stavropoulos, declined to comment further because of potential litigation regarding the matter.

Multiple attempts to reach village attorney Scott Pumas were unsuccessful.

Reporter Carlos Peterson contributed to this report.