Public Golf Courses Given Tentative OK

The Simi Valley City Council gave developers a tentative go-ahead Monday for plans to build two public golf courses in the otherwise-stalled Whiteface housing development.

Faced with a sluggish market for the high-priced homes they were planning to build, Big Sky Country Club Inc. put plans for 400 new custom-built houses on hold last spring, said Michael Kerney, Big Sky’s executive vice president.

The firm hopes that building 18-hole golf courses in Dry Canyon and Tapo Canyon will help draw more potential customers for the homes to Simi Valley so the Whiteface project can go forward, he said.

“We see a tremendous public golf market in Simi Valley,” Kerney said.

The council voted 5-0 to let Big Sky proceed with drafting plans to build the courses without having to install new roads, sewers and other utilities that would have been required for the housing development.

If Big Sky’s plans then pass muster with the Planning Commission and get final approval from the City Council, construction could begin by year’s end, Kerney said.