BY MICHAEL WHITE
DAILY NEWS WRITER
The village of North Hills, among the wealthiest communities in the country, wants its own "private" country club.
And where better to look than in its own backyard?
In what is shaping up to be a contentious battle between the village and the private and prestigious Deepdale Golf Club in North Hills, village officials are considering acquiring the golf club via eminent domain.
The 4,500-resident village wants to turn the private club into a public course, but only for North Hills residents.
Deepdale owners filed two separate lawsuits last week, in state and federal courts, and launched a publicity campaign the North Hills mayor said caught him and other village officials off guard.
"We have not made any final decision," Mayor Marvin Natiss said. "We're still in the exploratory stage."
The former location of the Deepdale Golf Club was seized in the 1950s to make way for the Long Island Expressway, said George Conway, a lawyer for the golf club, which counts Mayor Bloomberg and fashion designer Oleg Cassini as members.
"That was for a good reason," he said of the seizure of the former property. "You can only take land for a valid public purpose. This golf club now would be taken for a very exclusive, gated community.
"Someone who lives across Long Island couldn't drop by," he added.
Conway accused village officials of wanting to seize the 175-acre property to drive up property values in the ritzy enclave of gated homes and winding driveways, which does not have fire or police departments, libraries or schools.
"They don't need a golf course, either," he said. "They want to make this town a private little golf community, such as a developer would build in Florida. There's no necessity."
The federal lawsuit claims a seizure of the golf course would violate Fifth Amendment rights. The state suit seeks to stop the village from using funds received from potential developers to acquire the golf course.
"I'm only interested in the best interest of the village residents," said Natiss.
He said residents were polled and voted overwhelmingly in favor "of having a village golf course as its recreational facility."
But the Deepdale owners say the many other golf courses in the area, such as the course at the North Hills Country Club, should suit those residents just fine.
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