Golf Not Ojai’s Dream

Japanese media baron Kagehisa Toyama bought 2,000 acres of the Ojai Valley to build a private golf club for millionaires, and his Farmont Corp. has launched a sophisticated public relations effort to win approval for the project. What’s dismaying is the way Farmont keeps changing its image in response to the winds of public opinion. In 1987, Mr. Toyama tried to gain approval for a development so massive--golf course, resort facilities, swimming pools, tennis courts, equestrian facilities and up to 30 guest bungalows--that it immediately ran afoul of the county. To disguise the true character and impact of the project, the PR staff gave it the nickname “Camp David West,” a gathering place where global leaders would “solve world problems over games of golf.” We weren’t supposed to notice that it was really a vast land development scheme.

After Farmont’s massive development plan was rejected, the company began portraying Mr. Toyama as a visionary who only wants to preserve the natural beauty of the Ojai Valley. If Toyama is such a nature lover, and so devoted to Ojai, why doesn’t he leave its natural beauty along? Farmont calls its latest plan for the golf club a “scaled down” version, a “minimal impact project.” True, the golf course will occupy “only” 203 acres; Toyama will concede 1,400 acres of land to the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy. But this math leaves 400 acres of land unaccounted for. It’s anyone’s guess what Farmont will propose for this acreage, once the corporation has a foothold in the valley.

To gain that foothold, Farmont has tried every sort of disguise. Having discovered Ojai’s legacy of spiritual inquiry, the PR staff portrayed Mr. Toyama as a “golf purist,” a dreamer with a mystical love for the game. (It’s revealing that his golf ashram would accept only those devotees who can afford to buy memberships that may cost as much as $100,000 or more.)

But no PR smoke screen can conceal the truth behind the campaign for the Farmont Golf Club: Mr. Toyama is just another land developer.

Mr. Toyama says he has always dreamed of building his own golf course. Like anyone else, he is entitled to his dreams. But remember, Mr. Toyama’s dream is not Ojai’s. This closely knit community doesn’t want to become another Aspen or Santa Barbara, a playground for wealthy outsiders. For the people of the Ojai Valley, Toyama’s dream is a nightmare.

JERRY DUNN

Ojai