Having witnessed both the Chancery Court proceedings and read the various newspaper reports on the pending foreclosure at The Peninsula, this is what one homeowner would suggest is the truth at The Peninsula.
As a background, I am the sole homeowner serving on the Peninsula Community Association (which governs the infrastructure of the development supported by homeowner dues), serve on the clu's board of governors, and am the immediate past president of one of the local homeowner associations (The Mooring) in The Peninsula.
Having lived here with my family full time since 2006, I have witnessed first hand the growth of this community, both the good and the not so good. By the way, other than the temporary demise of the housing market which affected everyone, there is only good here. We are a privately gated community staffed 24/7 by live security guards at the gate and roving in the summer.
We have a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course (over which Nicklaus has final say on any alterations) fully staffed by golf professionals (there were 16,906 rounds played in 2012). We have arguably the finest health and fitness club in the area, if not in the region. And, we have heated indoor and outdoor pools with an additional wave pool for all ages. All of these facilities are maintained by full time staff. All of this is managed by Troon, a nationally well known golf management company.
And, while the news articles seem to revolve around pending foreclosure, our Grill is undergoing a half million dollar expansion to triple the size of the footprint with a mid-May completion anticipated.
What gets lost in all of the articles that have been published and the hearsay that evolves from a lack of data is that we have 586 homeowners which is a growth from approximately 400 three years ago when the property first was placed into receivership. Quick math would suggest that this represents an almost a 50 percent increase in ownership during that period. In fact, while not well documented in the court hearings, we closed 52 new homes just in 2012 and 20 homes are under construction as this is written.
More importantly, in the time that this development has been in existence, there has been literally no single incident of crime; our kids bike and walk freely with no fear of danger; our fishing piers, nature center, and walking paths are pristine in a natural environment; and our homeowners are fully engaged in all activities from golf and tennis to book clubs, bridge clubs, etc.
Finally, nowhere in the proceedings surrounding this community has there been any sense of stress or risk. Wells Fargo holds the financial interest in this property and has treated it with the respect and dignity befitting of a world class community. The bank has continued to fund necessary operations to include the Grill expansion. The community associations all operate in the black and by reserve studies are correctly funded on a 30-year reserve basis.
We all want the project to be completed in a judicious manner and with the exception of one homeowner, I would suggest from my vantage point that we are all pleased with the process of the transition, with the vitality of our community, and most importantly with the multi-cultural community that we all call our home.
John Gee
Millsboro
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