‘Wild kingdom.’ What’s going on with unkept golf course, pool in Macon’s Barrington Hall?
One of the reasons Charles Cohen decided to move into a house in Barrington Hall was because of an 18-hole golf course designed to appeal to novices and professionals alike.
The golf course, along with a swimming pool and clubhouse, was a luxury that attracted homeowners to the community in northwest Macon-Bibb County.
But for well over a year, the amenities at Barrington Hall have been closed, and the club’s owner now faces legal trouble for a series of code violations. The condition of the property would be worse without some homeowners like Cohen undertaking the arduous task of mowing the course’s greens to prevent it from further becoming an eyesore and safety hazard.
Cohen says he is perplexed about why Barrington Hall Golf Club owner Christopher Marcum has not maintained or sold the golf club.
The property has been cited by the county for having an unsanitary swimming pool, for not keeping the property free of debris and litter and allowing weeds and other vegetation to crop up.
The swimming pool’s water has turned green and weeds have sprouted up in the concrete. The golf course needs repairs to the golf cart paths and the putting greens need work in order to make it playable again.
“It’s about trying to preserve our community and keep our home values,” Cohen said. “It’d be one thing if the place was run down to a point where it would never be viable for another golf course community, and that’s just not so.”
The semi-private country club opened in 1992 inside Barrington Hall and was purchased in 2010 by Marcum as it teetered on foreclosure.
Marcum has recently become the property manager of the Meadowbrook Golf Club in Gainesville, Florida. In an recent interview with the Gainesville Sun, he said he was able to turn Barrington Hall profitable after it was losing $40,000 a month.
Marcum, who operates the Macon golf club under Barrington Hall Golfers Club LLC., did not return phone messages left by The Telegraph.
His Macon-Bibb County Municipal Court case has been reset to Aug. 16 after Marcum was found in contempt for not showing up for a May court date, according to the Municipal Court Clerk’s Office.
Macon-Bibb County sent a notice to Marcum on April 4 outlining the violations, re-inspection process and potential penalties.
The county has a right to file a lien and a $100 or $500 fee can be charged for each violation, the notice said.
A property owner can be fined up to $1,000 and spend up to 180 days in jail or have 60 days of community service if found guilty of a misdemeanor for not complying with the notice.
The Barrington Hall club property could eventually become subject to a new blight tax that would be seven times the current millage rate for chronically blighted properties.
Currently $22,197 in delinquent property taxes are owed on the Barrington Hall Golf Club, according to Macon-Bibb tax records.
Barrington homeowner Greg Rice says the golf course was as nice as any in Bibb County when it opened. There are new homes still being built inside the sprawling neighborhood.
The golf course would become a “wild kingdom” without those people willing to make the effort to keep it mowed, Rice said.
“I love it out here. The family can walk and it’s nice and all that,” Rice said. “The main thing is if the community hadn’t stood up and spent their dollars and their time to keep this thing cut down and not let it grow over our head it would be a total disaster.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 5:00 AM.