Panel Approves Plan to Build Golf Course in Tujunga Wash
Delivering a setback to environmentalists, the Los Angeles Planning Commission unanimously approved a proposal Thursday to build a public golf course and preserve on 160 acres of the ecologically sensitive Big Tujunga Wash.
Although opponents said they will appeal the decision to the City Council, the commission action is a significant victory for the developers, who have battled since 1987 with environmentalists, neighbors and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Key to the approval was a decision last year by developers to reduce the size of the golf course. The scaled-down proposal avoided development in flood channels, thereby removing the project from the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers. The federal agency in 1994 had denied a permit to build on the 355-acre site because it would jeopardize the slender-horned spineflower, listed as an endangered species.
Developers said the new plan does not pose any danger to the ecology of the wash.
After listening to hours of impassioned debate Thursday, the commission sided with the Glendale-based Foothills Golf Development Group and its plans for the Red Tail Golf and Equestrian Center.
The project will include an 18-hole public course and clubhouse, as well as bicycle and equestrian trails.
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