THOUSAND OAKS : City to Study Cost of a New Golf Course

Thousand Oaks is spending $12,000 to study whether the city should build an 18-hole golf course in an environmentally sensitive canyon located near a sewer plant.

The City Council, in a unanimous vote early Wednesday, approved hiring Cal Muni Golf to determine the costs of building and operating a new golf course.

The consultant would also draft preliminary designs for the course. The study is expected by the end of this year.

But a representative of a Thousand Oaks environmental group said it plans to oppose the course.

“Where are they going to replace 30 acres of wetland in the Conejo Valley?” said Cassandra Auerbach, a spokeswoman for the Conejo Valley chapter of the Sierra Club. “Putting a golf course in a wetland is a stupid idea. They’re precious places and they should be treated with tremendous respect.”

The roughly 250-acre site for the proposed golf course is northwest of the Hill Canyon sewer treatment plant. It includes nearly 32 acres of wetlands and a perennial stream next to the Arroyo Conejo, said Joseph P. Hinsberg, community services manager.

There are three golf courses in Thousand Oaks. The city owns and operates the Los Robles golf course, and Sunset Hills and the North Ranch Country Club are privately owned. Sherwood Country Club is just outside the city limits.

Hinsberg said a study that the city conducted several years ago indicated that the demand for new greens is high. The city last month agreed to raise fees for playing at Los Robles, in part because the course is so crowded.

According to the preliminary study, a new golf course could generate as much as $1.2 million of revenue for the city each year. The target date for opening the golf course is 1997, Hinsberg said.