Plan for Golf Course in Tujunga Wash Finds Favor

Most of about 150 northeast San Fernando Valley residents who filled a meeting hall Tuesday night appeared to favor the construction of a golf course in Tujunga Wash.

A representative of the would-be developer dangled the prospect of the course playing host to the Los Angeles Open in 1990 and warned that delay could cost the community that prize.

“You could kill us if you wanted to,” Steve Timm, director of golf course development for the developer, Cosmo World Corp, said.

A key decision on the golf course could come today, when the city Planning Department’s Environmental Review Committee is scheduled to consider whether the project would have significant impact on the environment.

If the committee rules that it would not, the developer can seek approval from the city Planning Commission. If the commission approves the project soon, and work proceeds on schedule, the L.A. International Golf Club will open in late summer of 1989, Timm said.

But, if the committee determines that environmental concerns exist, an environmental impact report must be drafted, which could delay construction a year, he said.

Sylvia Gross, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Assn. of Residents, said the group feels “that it’s the very best use that wash can be put to.”

Lewis Snow of the East Valley Horse Owners Assn. and vice chairman of the Lake View Terrace Homeowners Assn., said neither group has taken a stand but that members seem to favor the project.

“I can see property values up here just skyrocketing because of it,” he said.

The golf course would occupy about 200 acres, and the rest of the 367 acres site would be devoted to a $3-million drainage system. Timm estimated the total cost at $18 million to $20 million.