San Clemente : Developer Offers Plan for New Golf Course

Golfers have long complained of overcrowding at the city’s sole municipal golf course. The city has tried for nearly 14 years to build a new course on Camp Pendleton land, but those efforts ended last December when the commandant of the Marine Corps turned the city down once and for all.

Now, the idea of a second public links has been revived--not on Camp Pendleton land, but in Rancho San Clemente, one of four big backcountry developments.

The Costa Mesa-based WSLA Development Corp., the developer of Rancho San Clemente, has offered to donate 175 to 200 acres of land and build and operate clubhouse facilities if the city agrees to construct and maintain an 18-hole golf course.

The city would also agree to block off a number of starting times for guests in a hotel that WSLA proposes to build on adjoining property.

The City Council will discuss the proposal tonight and could direct City Manager James B. Hendrickson to begin hammering out the specifics of the partnership.

Among the issues that must be resolved are what the city’s share of the clubhouse revenues should be, eventual ownership of the clubhouse by the city, and how many starting times will be reserved for hotel guests, Hendrickson said in his staff report.

A city fund to build a second golf course has accumulated about $265,000 since a surcharge was tacked on green fees at the municipal course about a year ago, Hendrickson said.

WSLA is offering to donate the land to gain tax advantages, and because it would not be profitable for them to build the course on their own, Hendrickson said. The course would “fill a void for the city,” Hendrickson said in recommending that the council authorize him to begin negotiations.