GLENDALE : Golf Course Offers Safety Measures

Operators of Glendale’s municipal golf course said this week they will start a driver-safety campaign and take other steps to curb neighboring residents’ fears about the sale of alcoholic beverages at the course.

City officials this week approved the Scholl Canyon Golf Course’s conditional-use permit to sell beer and wine, despite pleas from several members of the Glenoaks Canyon Homeowners Assn. who said they feared drivers might not be able to safely navigate down the long, winding road from the golf course at the top of the canyon.

“Some people thought the street, which is moderately narrow and has a rather steep slope, might pose a very serious hazard to people who may have imbibed one too many,” said Joe Bridges, a member of the association.

The Scholl Canyon course reopened last November after being closed for six years due to methane gas leakage from the landfill underneath. The city-owned course was rebuilt and is managed by American Golf Corp., a private company.

Bridges said some residents also objected to the service of alcoholic beverages at a municipal golf course. But Brian Bote, general manager of the course, said beer and wine were served there during the 1980s by three different private companies that managed the course.

“We were kind of surprised (by the opposition),” he said. “We were just applying for the renewal of a liquor license that had already been granted at this establishment, but some of the homeowners that were concerned about it apparently were unaware that alcohol had been served here before.”

Bote said no hard liquor will be served. The snack bar that will serve beer and wine will close daily about 5 p.m., he added.

The course will initiate a campaign urging patrons not to drive faster than 25 m.p.h., and also will install safety signs along the road, Bote said.

Brent Le Count, the city’s zoning officer, said the conditional-use permit allowing beer and wine sales was approved because there were no overriding public safety concerns to deny it. He said the city’s records show no evidence of problems or incidents related to the sale of alcohol at the course in the past.

Golf course officials said they still must obtain a permit from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control before beer and wine sales can begin.