Election for Loch Lloyd Board of Trustees draws challengers

By Kathy Feist

With a contentious housing development behind them and a threatening lawsuit before them, three Loch Lloyd Board of Trustee members faced three candidates eager to replace them after Tuesday’s election. The candidate forum, held April 2nd, attracted a a crowd at the Loch Lloyd Country Club and on Zoom. 

Board of Trustee members Randy Schultz, Stevie Douglas and Ruth Withey are up for reelection. Their seats are being challenged by Loch Lloyd Planning and Zoning Commission members Chuck Etherington, Jill Worstell-Benjamin and Andrew Elsberry. 

After introductions, no time was wasted getting to the questions weighing heavily on residents’ minds. 

The Board of Trustees had recently been hit with a lawsuit from the South Homeowners Association. Interaction with the HOA was sidestepped by the Board of Trustees when negotiating a developer’s contract for Brian Illig’s proposed housing plans for the former Sechrest golf course located in the South HOA. (Illig had also ignored pleas from the HOA for collaborative meetings.) While the trustees maintain they did not break a law by not including the HOA, they ignored directives from public meetings and the Planning and Zoning Commission to do so. The lawsuit suggests country club membership was used as leverage by Illig who owns the Loch Lloyd Country Club and has the final say on membership. 

The following is a synopsis of each candidate’s response at the forum. 

Randy Schultz 

Schultz, a health care attorney, has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the past four years. He has overseen the new Land Use Master Plan, neighborhood annexations, and took on a $225,000 tax penalty for the Village. “I try to be objective,” he said in his introduction. “I’m able to have dispassionate conversations of the pros and cons….. and look at the depth of facts.” 

Schultz voted in favor of rezoning the Sechrest golf course. As the chairman he felt a responsibility to find benefit for the entire community. The proposed development brings with it a promise of a park and much needed water, lake and stormwater solutions that affect the entire Village. “There is enough community benefit as opposed to doing nothing,” he said. Additionally, he believes that before the developer can shovel dirt, he must follow every promise agreed to in the legally binding developer’s agreement, which he said was inclusive of the South HOA’s concerns. 

Schultz said he was disappointed in the South HOA litigation and insists all rules were followed. “There was no secret meeting. Nothing inappropriate,” he answered. He denies there can be any conflict of interest since 75 percent of Loch Lloyd residents are country club members. 

Schultz is against an intermodal four-lane highway proposed for Holmes Road that would bring large truck transportation from 150 Highway. He is also in favor of a possible small grocery store near Snead’s Bar-B-Q. 

Stevie Douglas

Stevie Douglas, co-owner of a commercial window cleaning business, has served as a trustee for four years. During his terms, he oversaw the establishment of a disaster response team, the future installation of a signal light at the East Gate on Holmes Road, and a future agreement with Belton for animal control. Douglas apologized in his introduction for behavior that resulted in chasing a speeding car. “It was the worst night of my life,” he said, while assuring it was not a reflection of his true nature. 

Douglas voted in favor of rezoning. He appreciated that the developer changed his plans to include berms and landscaping to camouflage dense housing, walkways, decreased housing units and more. 

Douglas says there is one word for the litigation: misinformation. He would like to see residents stop talking at each other and talk with each other as friends and neighbors. 

He is against the intermodal four-way highway and for the enforcement of the developer’s plan. 

Ruth Whithey

Ruth Whithey, a retired schoolteacher and community activist, has served as a trustee for two years. As a long-time South HOA resident, she wasted no time jumping into the controversy. Whithey is the only member on the Board of Trustees who voted against rezoning. She said the Land Use Master Plan approved a year and a half ago was completely ignored in terms of housing density. “The new master plan didn’t last for one go-around,” she said.  However, she admitted that the master plan was not a legal document but a guideline. She believes that studies from a developer should be completed prior to rezoning approval.

Whithey claimed that the golf course was intentionally uncared for so that neighboring households would be in favor of any new course of action.  

 She said that club memberships have been jeopardized in order to get rezoning. Whithey said the litigation was the “line in the sand” for South HOA who were not included in negotiations. “Sometimes litigation is necessary,” she said. 

“You might believe these are harsh words,” she said. “But do you want an outspoken representative or guys getting together to abrupt your lives?” 

Chuck Etherington

Chuck Etherington, a retired attorney who served on the American Century Investments Global Council, is in his second year as Chairman for Loch Lloyd’s Planning and Zoning Commission. He has lived in the Sechrest community since 2007. He said he “provided extensive thoughts and information to the Trustees” while also “keeping the community informed” during the rezoning process. 

Etherington voted against rezoning as the committee chairman. His decision was based on the plan’s inability to follow the Land Use Master Plan regarding the density issue. “I was prepared to vote for it if the density issue was resolved,” he said. 

Etherington believes the current HOA litigation may cause damage to the community. He prefers to oversee the enforcement of the developer’s contract. “The contract’s rights are enforced through the court on promises made,” he said. “That is valuable.” He also doesn’t believe the litigation has the approval of most homeowners in the South HOA. 

Jill Worstell-Benjamin

Jill Worstell-Benjamin, a family attorney with her own law firm, has served on the Lake Committee and is a one-year member of the Planning & Zoning Committee. 

Worstell-Benjamin voted against rezoning, in line with the rest of the P&Z Committee. She felt the recommendations made to the Board of Trustees by the Committee were not followed.   

Worstell-Benjamin said a lawsuit should be a last resort. However, she believes that while the trustees are not legally required to involve the South HOA, the effort should have been made. 

Going forward, she would like to help navigate changes that benefit all parties. 

Andrew Elsberry

Andrew Elsberry, a mergers and acquisitions attorney, is a member of the Planning & Zoning Committee. He says he helped shape the Land Use Master Plan by helping find common ground among the community. 

Elsberry voted against the proposed rezoning as a way of “honoring the community’s collective voice.” He said the proposal was inconsistent with the Land Use Master Plan. “After the Master Plan Development process, there was a clear mandate to get golf back [at Sechrest],” he said. “But it was not on the table.” 

Elsberry feels that litigation should be a last resort after all other efforts are exhausted. (He mentioned that his country club membership was in limbo for reasons unknown to him.)

Elsberry said he would like to help repair the community. “We need a government that clearly communicates what it does and why,” he said. 

When the candidates were asked by a resident for solutions to many of these problems, all agreed on better communication. However, Whithey, outspoken in her advice,had a different solution: “Change the trustee board members.”