Bankruptcy For Trinitas Owners

Mike and Michelle Nemee, owners of the Trinitas golf course in northern California's Calavaras County, have filed for bankruptcy protection. The move, reported by the Stockton Record, was designed to forestall a foreclosure sale on their 280-acre property.

The Nemees, as longtime readers of this blog may recall, are the couple who in 2001 built their course without permits, zoning approval or environmental review. (That's the county's version of what happened, anyway. The Nemees say they had approval from county officials.)

The property was scheduled for foreclosure earlier this week, but a representative of the Nemees' lender said the auction could be averted if county supervisors approved the agricultural land for use as a golf course. On Tuesday, the supervisors voted 3-2 against using it for golf. Within days the Nemees sought chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from their creditors.

Opponents of the Nemees and their golf course are steamed, the paper says. While going through their bankruptcy reorganization, the Nemees have said they intend to keep the course open and operating. "It seems to us the Nemees have hijacked the county," one neighbor complained.

-- P.F.