Golf course homeowners caught in bitter battle between Horn Rapids developers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A developer is accused of using the HOA to block a townhome project.
- The golf course owner filed a lawsuit against the developer and HOA.
- If the golf course fails, home values across the large community could drop.
The Tri-Cities’ largest homeowners group is caught in a lawsuit between two developers, one trying to revive its beleaguered golf course and the other attempting to protect a small group of neighbors.
Horn Rapids golf course owner Brad Rew claims Pahlisch Homes, which owns hundreds of undeveloped lots in the community, has allegedly used for several years the Homeowner Association’s code compliance committee to block his planned townhome project.
The Links at Horn Rapids project is intended to be a revenue stream for revamping the golf course, and played a key role in his 2019 purchase of the 18-hole desert-style course in north Richland off Highway 240.
Rew sued last year in Benton County Superior Court accusing Pahlisch of illegally blocking the project.
If Rew succeeds, the townhomes will be uncomfortably close to the backyards of owners on Crosswater Loop who were promised the green space behind their lots would never be developed. It could also potentially block the views of about eight of the homes.
If he loses, it could sink the golf course and with it the values of high-end homes throughout the entire community. There are more than 1,400 homes in the 835-acre community, with hundreds of lots remaining. Prices for available homes start at around $535,000, according to Zillow.
If damages are awarded to Rew, it would be the Horn Rapids HOA, and homeowners, paying them.
The ongoing feud means that real estate agents say they now have to provide a lawsuit disclosure to anyone looking to buy a home at Horn Rapids.
Why is Rew suing?
Rew told the Tri-City Herald he can’t comment on the lawsuit, but his intentions have only ever been to benefit the community. He said he just wants to ensure the public gets transparency on how decisions impacting an entire community are being made.
“I purchased the course in 2019, and my goal has always been and will continue to be to improve the golf course and the community, it has never been to create division within Horn Rapids,” he told the Herald in an email.
“I live in this community, own property here, and care deeply about its future. I have consistently tried to find practical solutions that would avoid prolonged litigation and benefit both the neighborhood and the long-term health of the golf course and community as a whole.”
Rew owns Gale-Rew Construction and operates the course under HJBT Properties.
The longer it takes to get approval for the project, the more expensive it will become. Already the cost to build has increased by one-third.
Rew said that their initial projected sale price for all 54 units would have totaled $25 million, today it would be $33 million.
Building permits are based on a percent of total cost, which means in addition to inflation and other cost increases since the COVID-19 pandemic, his total costs to plan will have increased at about the same rate. He’s also had to pay architects to adjust the plans.
When the homes on Crosswater Loop were built, they were sold as golf course fronting with great views.
There was also a green space behind the homes with a tree and manmade pond that homeowners thought was protected by an easement and could not be developed.
It turns out the easement was filed incorrectly, without a legal description of the lot and cannot be legally enforced.
That meant the area became part of the buildable 7-acre lot near the 18th hole and the community’s clubhouse.
Plans for the townhomes show they’re intended to maximize the space available, though zoning laws would allow even more units, according to planning documents. For a few existing homes, that means only 6 feet of separation between their back fence and the project.
It also means the beloved pond behind the homes that attracts wildlife would be filled in. There would also be a roundabout or turnaround potentially with a small parking lot at the edge of the current backyards.
Attorneys for Rew told homeowners in 2022 that he had tried to negotiate adjustments, but neither side felt like the other was operating in good faith, according to emails obtained by the Herald.
A divided community
Many in the larger Horn Rapids community support the project, and see it as a vital lifeline to keep the course alive and potentially elevate it at a time when golf courses across the nation have been dying.
A 2021 Richland hearing examiner review found the project met all of the city’s criteria and could move forward.
Crosswater Loop homeowners tried to negotiate on their own, but emails show those conversations broke down, then HOA’s code committee began blocking the project.
Because the committee can’t enforce the green space easement, Rew says they’ve instead made demands such as breaking up rooflines, denying exterior choices such as paint and fencing and other items Rew feels are intentionally being thrown out to cause more delays.
Each time he makes adjustments, it costs more money and the code committee comes back with new demands, according to court documents.
After nearly five years of back and forth, Rew filed the lawsuit against Pahlisch and the HOA in January 2025.
Pahlisch Homes owners Cory Bittner and Jason Spence are the key members of the board. Stew Stone, who helped develop the Crosswater Loop homes is no longer on the board, but is named in the lawsuit. Stone was instrumental in Pahlisch’s decision to become the sole builder in the community.
Rew says he’s tried to negotiate with the HOA, but Spence and Bittner are arbitrarily denying his designs, according to court documents.
Crosswater homeowners say Rew isn’t willing to compromise. They want the back row of the townhomes eliminated, bringing the project from 54 roofs down to about 40 while preserving the green space.
In conversations with the HOA, Rew has said he has shifted the townhomes as far away from them as he possibly can, but he can’t eliminate even more rooftops from the project.
The lawsuit was close to a settlement last summer when Pahlisch’s attorneys backed out of a proposed discussion, according to court filings.
In a sworn affidavit, Rew’s lawyers say the judge in the case told them that it was because Pahlisch intended to just use the HOA’s code committee to deny the project indefinitely.
The affidavit said that the attorney was told by then Benton Franklin Superior Court Judge Bruce Spanner that Stone, was “intentionally interfering with (Rew’s) development because of some agreement Stew Stone previously made with homeowners who own surrounding property.” And allegedly according to Stone, “the (code committee) will never allow (Rew) to develop their property because of this other agreement.”
Attorneys for Pahlisch and Stone denied this. They said the originally agreed number of townhomes, at 48 instead of 54, was approved two years ago, and they reiterated that to Rew earlier this month. They could not comment further on specifics due to the lawsuit.
Homeowners tried to negotiate
Steve Lorence bought a new home on Crosswater Loop in 2012 and lived there until 2024. He told the Tri-City Herald that he wanted the golf course and Rew to succeed, but not at the cost it would have on their homes and lives.
Lorence said it was disappointing that Richland let the easement be thrown out on a technicality and refused to let it be corrected.
“We got a letter in the mail. It was actually on April 1, we thought it was an April Fools' joke,” he said. “There was a lot of politics behind it. He has a lot of friends in high places and I think the city was looking at the tax revenue.”
Lorence said the homeowners tried their best to negotiate with Rew, but felt he was intent on carrying out his vision.
The neighbors hired an attorney and filed their own appeal, but Lorence said it proved too costly.
A 2022 email exchange between attorneys for the homeowners and Rew showed communication breaking down before the lawsuit was filed.
Rew had come back with another proposal to eliminate two townhomes near the middle of the lot in order to shift the golf course fronting homes farther away from the Crosswater Loop houses. The roundabout could not be removed due to a needed fire turnaround point, according to the email. They also offered to plant a line of trees to help with privacy.
“There is no way to preserve the pond or cottonwood tree(s) for your clients’ benefit with this configuration and our client’s planned project,” the email said. “While we appreciate your clients’ attempt to suggest compromises that allow more units to be maintained, after talking with their development team, there simply is no economical way to eliminate all potential view impacts on your clients’ properties (which seems to be your clients’ goal).”
The plans show townhome yards abutting the first two homes on Crosswater Loop and then space widening near the roundabout, which is just feet from a backyard.
Those negotiations fell apart after asking for Rew to settle on eliminating six townhomes.
“Your client’s position that the owners should simply eliminate and lop off 25% of its project to protect their backyard views is both unreasonable and has almost no chance of success in the pending (permit) appeal,” Rew’s attorney responded.
Technically, he could place as many as 72 units on the property, but chose not to in order to minimize impact, the attorney said.
“It’s your clients that simply have insisted on ‘no development in my backyard,’” Rew’s attorney continued. “While legally irrelevant, continued statements in your brief and email that our client, who is trying to make the golf course a success, is simply monetizing their property at its full development potential and ignoring neighbors is untrue and unfair.”
Still, Rew did offer to move four of the units as far north as possible and to reduce those four units to single story. They also offered to change the roundabout to an asphalt only turnaround with more green space and eliminate the extra parking spaces near it.
The homeowners’ attorney said that Rew essentially had three choices: agree on plans with the homeowners, sue the HOA board or wait until the community is fully developed and Pahlisch turns the HOA over to a community-led board that might be friendlier.
“To be clear, my clients are flexible on the number of lots they will support,” the homeowners’ attorney said. “Their goal is to work out a compromise where their views are somewhat protected. As you are probably aware from my clients’ previous testimony on this issue, they have always supported the development, but with reasonable compromises.”
Ultimately those negotiations directly with homeowners did not pan out and Rew continued trying to move forward with his plans for the development.
Without the legal protections of the easement, Lorence said Pahlisch had to go to bat for the homeowners.
“Pahlisch was trying to protect us, they understood that what he was trying to do didn’t meet the community standards he laid out, they were protecting the whole community,” he said. “I think they had good intentions, they had a vision they wanted to establish for the whole community.”
Other homeowners in the larger community sent letters of support for Rew’s project, arguing that a dead golf course would tank their home values and create a wildfire risk. Other communities have been forced to infill dead golf courses with even more houses.
Lorence said Rew also drummed up support within the local golfing community with the promise of turning the course into an elite green.
When he retired, Lorence said he and his wife had a decision to make. They wanted to be closer to family in Wisconsin, but debated keeping the Crosswater Loop home to enjoy during the milder Tri-City winters.
“My wife and I, we thought we’d keep the home for tax purposes and go back in winter time,” he said. “But with all the crap going on, we said, ‘Let’s just get out of here.’”
If Rew and Pahlisch are unable to reach a settlement, then the lawsuit will go to trial early next year for a jury to decide.
