Article Courtesy of The Palm
Beach Post
By Alexandra Clough
Published September 13, 2020
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Earlier this year, residents of the exclusive Bear’s Club community, built by
golf great Jack Nicklaus, overwhelmingly approved a measure pitched as giving
homeowners more control over their Jupiter community.
The move came after two years of litigation between the club and two Bear’s Club
residents who said the golf club had too much power over the ritzy residential
community.
In May, 88% percent of residents voted for the new amendments, which reduced the
club's voting majority to 32% from 51%, among other measures. The changes,
according to legal documents, were made to address concerns raised by some
residents about club control of the homeowners' association.
"While disputes can always arise in any community, these issues have had a
public impact on us, which in turn affects our property values here at the
Bear's Club," three association board members wrote homeowners earlier this
year.
But the May vote by homeowners did nothing to mollify Bear’s Club resident Gary
Sellers. Since 2019, he has been locked in litigation with the Bear’s Club and
various Nicklaus affiliates over control of the homeowners association.
In August, Sellers sued the Bear's Club Property Owners' Association and its
five board members, including Nicklaus' son, Gary Nicklaus, alleging the
just-passed amendments still deprive homeowners of control.
The litigation provides a window into the world of elite golf country clubs.
The Bear’s Club, east of Interstate 95 and just north of Donald Ross Road, is a
400-acre community featuring about 80 homes, villas and cottages, situated
around The Bear’s Club golf course and clubhouse. There is an 18-hole golf
course and a 40,000-square-foot clubhouse.
At the Bear’s Club, membership costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and homes
sell for millions of dollars. Residents include luminaries from the sports
world, including NBA great Michael Jordan and pro golfer Rory McIlroy.
But for all their money, some residents fear challenging Nicklaus, the project's
developer and leader of the golf club, court records say.
"There are people who are afraid of being kicked out of the club," said Joel
Kenwood, an attorney for Sellers. The board members are appointed by the club,
and the club controls the board."
At issue: Does Nicklaus, as developer, still control the homeowners association
via his alleged alter ego, the golf club?
And can residents ever complain about it, risking their access to the club?
The Bear's Club golf club is owned by 35 founding members and led by Nicklaus.
When the Bear’s Club residential community was created by Nicklaus 20 years ago,
the golf club maintained majority control of the residential association. This
was done, Nicklaus told residents in a 2018 letter, so the club would always
have control, and the community would avoid disputes that afflict other
residential communities.
In the 2018 letter, Nicklaus said he was aware some residents didn't share his
views about the organizational structure of the association, but he said the
club's founders would not bend to coercion.
"A single fight over principle will avoid perpetual fights over the years to
come," Nicklaus wrote.
Nicklaus also wrote that the Bear’s Club residential community is not a
residential community with a golf course. Instead, it is a place where
homeowners “bask in the glory of adjacency to a spectacular golf facility.”
Nicklaus’ lofty language upset some people, including Bear’s Club resident David
Nissen. The letter “sets Nicklaus up as the king and residents should be lucky
they are his minions,” said Spencer Sax, a Nissen lawyer.
But in a 2019 interview, Eugene Stearns, an attorney for the Bear's Club, said
Nicklaus' letter was misunderstood. Stearns said Nicklaus was trying to explain
why exclusive golf clubs "are very special. There's a certain golf mystique
about how you conduct yourself."
Regardless, in 2018, Nissen filed a Palm Beach County Circuit Court lawsuit
against the Bear's Club Property Owners' Association, The Bear's Club
Development Co., the Bear's Club Founding Partners and other Nicklaus entities.
The lawsuit was filed by Nissen individually and on behalf of the homeowners as
a derivative lawsuit. The complaint is a bid to shift control of the property
owners association to the homeowners from the developer, as Nissen said, is
required by Florida law after 90% of a development is sold to residents.
In the lawsuit, Nissen also sought to recoup assessments paid by the homeowners
instead of the golf club for the care of the community, a figure described as
millions of dollars.
Nissen filed his lawsuit after Sellers was bounced as president of the property
owners association for also questioning the way the association was being
controlled by the golf club and developer.
Sellers, a former partner in the New York law firm of Simpson, Thacher &
Bartlett, not only lost his position as association president for making waves;
he also was kicked out of the golf club and lost his $350,000 club initiation
deposit.
In a March 2019 lawsuit, Sellers sued to recoup his money and his membership.
The club responded that it was well within its rights to oust Sellers for
"improper conduct." The club also said courts don't have jurisdiction over
private clubs anyway. The lawsuit is ongoing.
In June 2019, Sellers also filed a derivative suit on behalf of the Bear's Club
Property Owners' Association, claiming the community continued to be controlled
by the developer, Nicklaus and the club, instead of the homeowners.
The Bear's Club and various Nicklaus entities repeatedly have denied they are
alter egos. They also say Nissen and Sellers' claims are barred by the statute
of limitations.
The Nissen and Sellers lawsuits have since been combined into one case, but the
case is on hold, pending an appeal by the Bear's Club defendants of a judge’s
ruling.
Now comes the August lawsuit filed by Sellers against the just-passed
amendments, which he says violate Florida law.
This litigation revives the issue of control, particularly since the amendments
restrict the ability of the association and its members to sue the developer,
the club or any of its officers or directors.
This is what Sellers and Nissen are doing now with their derivative lawsuit
filed on behalf of the association.
But the amendments only become effective if Sellers and Nissen drop or settle
their lawsuit against the property owners association, the Bear's Club
Development Co., the Bear's Club Founding Partners, and various Nicklaus
entities.
Kenwood, the attorney for Sellers and Nissen, said his clients have no intention
of doing so.
The new amendments are "a pressure tactic to get them to dismiss their lawsuit,"
Kenwood said."It's all just a game that they're playing."
Although the amendments make it seem as if the club is giving up control of the
homeowners association, "they're just doing it through another approach,"
Kenwood said.
Stearns, an attorney for the Bear's Club, could not be reached for comment.
Another Bear's Club attorney declined to comment.
Kenwood said his clients aren't filing these lawsuits or personal gain.
"There’s no big pot of gold for them," Kenwood said. "Nissen and Sellers are
spending huge amounts of money to benefit the homeowners and preserve the
governance rights of the homeowners. It's a matter of principle."
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