{"id":393100,"date":"2025-11-20T21:21:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/393100\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T21:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:21:12","slug":"village-law-could-incentivize-new-golf-course-in-brookville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/393100\/","title":{"rendered":"Village law could incentivize new golf course in Brookville"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brookville has updated its village\u00a0code to allow for-profit golf clubs to operate on the former\u00a0Tam O\u2019Shanter Club grounds, incentivizing a possible successor to run the defunct course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 18-hole course was sold in 2019 to a developer\u00a0who planned to build\u00a027 luxury homes on the 148-acre property.\u00a0But three years later, toxins were found in the topsoil \u2014 a discovery that stalled the luxury housing project, village and state documents<\/a>\u00a0show.<\/p>\n

For the past few years the quiet, abandoned fairways have remained unused and undeveloped, said Brookville Mayor Dan Serota.\u00a0The village board recently\u00a0updated an antiquated code that only allowed not-for-profits to run golf courses in the village. The new code allows \u201cfor profit membership clubs\u201d to purchase and take over the site, according to village documents<\/a>, raising the chances the greens can remain a golf course.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe incentivized it to stay a golf course,\u201d Serota said in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s been sitting fallow for four years; the geese have taken it over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grounds are in complete disrepair,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would cost tens of millions of dollars to bring it up \u2026 it would just be ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tam O\u2019Shanter Club was purchased in 2019 by New Jersey-based Titan Tam LLC and Segme Tam LLC, according to village and Nassau County records. County property records list the property’s sale at $11.8 million.<\/p>\n

The course operated through the summer of 2021 before closing, state Department of Environmental Conservation documents show. The owners of the property, who had zoning rights\u00a0to develop 27 luxury homes there, hit a roadblock in 2022 following the discovery of arsenic in the course’s topsoil.<\/p>\n

An extensive remediation is required to develop housing on the property. That\u00a0process would have\u00a0required 11,000\u00a0dump truck trips to treat the contamination, Serota said.\u00a0Keeping the property a golf course wouldn’t require as much environmental treatment. Maintaining the property as a golf course requires “significantly less and safer soil disturbance than a housing development,” the mayor wrote in the village’s October newsletter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we heard that, we said absolutely no way are we going to permit anything like that on our village streets,\u201d Serota said. \u201cAnd then the developer just stayed quiet for a bunch of years, and didn\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selling the property to a for-profit operator is the best possible outcome,\u00a0Serota said. The cost for the village to buy and develop the property would significantly raise taxes for the 700 homes\u00a0within its borders, making it a non-starter for Serota.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeff Wernick, a DEC spokesman, said in an email that the contamination volume was “a common amount for golf courses and apple orchards.” He added that\u00a0“the property does not pose a significant threat to public health or the environment, and the property was not listed on the State\u2019s Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites.”<\/p>\n

The amended code, passed unanimously by the board of trustees, also allows for 10 guest cottages on the site for members only\u00a0and a new, smaller clubhouse, according to village documents.<\/p>\n

Multiple companies have approached the village about buying the property, as long as they’re allowed\u00a0to turn a profit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether the current owners are willing to sell the property. The owners of the property did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.<\/p>\n

A new owner and operator would face significant hurdles, said Kevin Kline, director of member services for the Metropolitan Golf Association, which supports golfers and club owners in the metropolitan area. <\/p>\n

Competition for memberships on Long Island is stiff, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s keeping up with the club down the block,\u201d Kline said. \u201cGolf is booming, and these facilities are not just golf clubs. They’re pools, they’re camps, they’re indoor simulators, they’re bowling alleys. They’re getting so many enhancements to increase the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, the North Shore of Long Island was a hotbed for golf clubs: At times, supply outpaced demand. However, after COVID protocols helped drive more people to the fairways, Kline said momentum has continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cGolf is booming,\u201d Kline said.<\/p>\n

Changing course<\/strong><\/p>\n