Study Says Golf Course Wouldn’t Harm Area : Farmont: An environmental impact report on the exclusive country club proposed for land west of Ojai says measures could mitigate any negative effects.

A private golf course proposed for an agricultural area west of Ojai will have no significant negative effects on the community, according to an environmental impact report.

The report’s findings bode well for proponents of the Farmont Golf Club, who hope to win approval for an exclusive country club on a 203-acre parcel adjacent to California 150 and the affluent Rancho Matilija subdivision.

Japanese broadcasting tycoon Kagehisa Toyoma--chairman of the Farmont Corp. and owner of Japan’s largest radio station, Radio Nippon--has sought to build a dream course on the property since acquiring it in the early 1980s.

His last attempt was thwarted in 1987 when the Ventura County Board of Supervisors ruled that the project, which called for a golf course, meeting hall and two dozen private bungalows, was an inappropriate use of the property. The land is zoned only for open space.

The environmental impact report on the revised project--prepared by the Interface Planning and Counseling Corp. of Santa Barbara and released earlier this week--found that mitigation measures could counter any adverse impact the golf course might have on the five main areas studied: land-use, water resources, traffic, air quality and biological resources.

The report “states that the residual impact is insignificant on the areas looked at if the proposed mitigation measures are adhered to,” said county planner Janna Minsk.

Minsk would not comment on whether the report adequately addressed all potential effects, or whether it would eventually be approved by the Planning Commission at the end of the 45-day review period.

Representatives of most groups that have expressed concern over the Farmont project said Friday that they had not had sufficient time to study the voluminous report, which includes two, one-inch-thick sections on water use.

The report states that Farmont Corp. has sufficient diversion rights to Ventura River surface water to more than meet the project’s needs, although some project opponents have questioned that in the past.

Officials estimated that the golf course will use a little more than 400 acre-feet of water from the river per year for irrigation, far less than the Farmont Corp.’s total diversion rights.

Another two acre-feet would be used for the project’s 19,890-square-foot clubhouse, the report states. Whether this water would come from the Casitas Municipal Water District or a well to be drilled on the property has yet to be decided, the report said.

Farmont Corp. environmental planning consultant Steve Craig attributed the lack of significant impact to the high level of planning that has gone into the project. “We’ve spent a year and a half planning this and have already put a lot of mitigation into it,” Craig said.

Many of the concerns raised by groups who were opposed to the previous proposal have been eliminated under the new plan, which contains no residential dwelling units and seeks to conform to existing zoning regulations, Craig said.

Sections from the report on traffic and water use are likely to be researched by Ojai planners, said Planning Director Bill Prince. “These are the ones we expect to be salient, because of the cumulative impacts,” he said.

“It is an involved document, however, and I would hate to prejudge before I have read it all,” Prince said.

Farmont officials have also submitted a series of additional mitigation measures to county planners for consideration with the environmental report, Craig said.

Foremost among the proposals is an offer to donate at least 1,300 acres of scenic mountainside property to a local land conservancy, which would maintain the area as open space.

Ojai Valley Land Conservancy officers confirmed that Farmont officials have offered the group rights to the land, but there has not been an agreement on whether the conservancy will accept, they said.

“If their project gets approved, and if as part of the project they are still willing to set aside 1,300 acres or more as perpetual open space, naturally we would be willing to maintain that area,” said Ojai Valley Land Conservancy President Phillip Moncharsh.

“We want to look at the EIR first, however, and ascertain whether any specific terms and conditions that they may be putting on this make sense, or need to be reworded or worked out,” Moncharsh said.

The environmental report also discusses traffic issues, particularly on the already congested stretch of California 33 between Ventura and Ojai. A possible traffic mitigation measure proposed in the report is a mandate that the course’s 30 to 35 employees be hired from the Ojai Valley, to cut down on commuting.