State Supreme Court rules against developer’s plans for homes on Mount Pleasant golf course

The state Supreme Court has upheld a circuit court judge’s ruling denying a developer’s attempt to build homes on Dunes West Golf Club property in Mount Pleasant.

The state’s high court unanimously ruled this week that the township of Mount Pleasant was not in violation after it denied John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods and its Dunes West Golf Club permission to construct 32 homes on 18 acres along the East Cooper layout.

Dunes West Golf Club alleged in the suit that the town’s zoning of its property was a violation of its right to due process and equal protection under the law. It also claimed that the town had unfairly taken away its right to develop the property.

Monday’s court decision ends a battle between the developer, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, and the town that dates back to 2008.

Wieland, which purchased the golf course for $4 million in 2005, initially planned to construct homes on a portion of the property. The plans, however, came into question when Mount Pleasant Town Council voted in 2006 to rezone golf course property after a series of bankrupt courses were being sold to housing developers.

The change meant the 32 homes could not be built at Dunes West without the town ’s approval.

In 2008, the golf club applied to rezone the 18 acres for home sites.

The town’s planning commission recommended denial, and the company withdrew its application.

In June 2009, the golf club again applied for the rezoning but was rejected. It then appealed to Circuit Court, where Judge Markley Dennis ruled in favor of the town, and later to the Supreme Court.