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Manor wins again in golf course fight Appeals court says Quail Point can grow to 18 holes By Jessica Smith If the fight over the planned Quail Point Golf Course expansion were a match game, the Rogue Valley Manor would have an eight-hole advantage over the Jackson County Citizens League. On Wednesday, the state Court of Appeals upheld previous local and state approvals of the Manor�s plan to expand the course from nine holes to 18. With one exception, the Manor has won every battle over the expansion since it first submitted the plan in 1996. But the citizens league, which wants to preserve east Medford�s farmland, may be teeing up for another chance to sink the golf course plan. "We will look at continuing the fight" against the expansion, said Porter Lombard, a league board member. "The next step would be the state Supreme Court. If it won�t hear the case, then it�s over." The league�s board is expected to decide within three weeks whether it will appeal to the Supreme Court. Manor representatives were hopeful Wednesday that the Court of Appeals decision would put an end to the legal wrangling over the course expansion. "We�ve been here a few times before," said marketing executive vice president Brian McLemore. "So we�re not moving dirt yet. "But we certainly think this is a step in the right direction." It�s been four years since the Manor first won the county�s approval to expand onto farmland. In 1997, the plan was threatened by a Land Use Board of Appeals ruling that overturned the local decision. Since then, at seven different major points in the process, the expansion plan has earned the favor of local decision-makers and the state legal system, including the Supreme Court. Most recently, in May, LUBA sided with the Manor and Jackson County on three secondary land-use issues. Looking to the Court of Appeals for help, the citizens league argued that LUBA�s ruling violated the principle that land outside the urban growth boundary be limited to rural uses. The court agreed with LUBA, however, finding that a golf course is a permitted use on the farm land in question. The Manor wants to expand its golf course on land that was once a pear orchard. The nine-hole expansion would cover more than 200 acres in east Medford. To review a copy of the court�s decision, visit the Oregon Justice Department�s Web site at ojd.state.or.us Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.