HUNTINGTON BEACH : City OKs Talks on Golf Course Proposal

The city will negotiate with a Manhattan Beach company to build and operate a nine-hole, par-three golf course on the bluff top of an undeveloped park.

If negotiations are successful, the proposal will go on the ballot for final approval by city voters, under terms of a 1990 initiative that requires voter approval for any major development at the city’s parks and beaches.

The City Council last week gave Super Sports Golf Division Inc. exclusive rights for one year to negotiate the construction of the golf course at Bartlett Park, east of Beach Boulevard between Adams and Yorktown avenues.

Negotiations are linked to the company’s willingness to develop and maintain an adjoining four-acre neighborhood park at its own expense.

About 17 acres on the upper bluff top at the park would be designated for the golf course. Four acres on the low-lying part of the site would be developed into a public park and include playground equipment, basketball and volleyball courts, picnic tables, benches, walkways and lighting.

The company also wants to build a 70-stall driving range, a pro-shop and chipping and putting greens.

Community Services Director Ron Hagan told council members in a report that a key element in the proposal is the company’s willingness to provide the four-acre park while operating the golf course.

Phil Smith, who lives near the proposed golf course, urged council members not to go ahead with negotiations. Smith contended that the golf course would be placed in an environmentally sensitive area, that golfers would have to drive through the parking lot of the Newland Center and Newland House Museum to get to the course, and that lights from the driving range could disturb residents at night.