Pierce Golf Plan Is Right Course

After initially rejecting all five proposals for development of the Pierce College farm, a campus committee has resurrected a plan for building a golf course on the land and providing the cash-strapped school with at least $1 million a year. It was the best proposal presented to the school, which requested bids to develop 240 acres of the farm, and the school was wise to reconsider.

The plan, first rejected and then embraced by the selection committee, calls for the construction of a golf course and driving range as well as new animal science and equine science buildings. The developer also offered to build a veterinary hospital and an indoor arena for rodeos or animal shows. The proposal stood out among the bids because it offers educational amenities that the school desperately needs.

Although the committee’s decision resurrects the plan, it must still be approved by the Pierce College Council. The final decision to lease the land will be made by the Los Angeles Community College District in March.

Proposals to develop the farm raised the hackles of environmentalists and neighbors who point to the land at the corner of DeSoto Avenue and Victory Boulevard as one of the last patches of open space in the San Fernando Valley. Although the school should not rush to grade over the past, it must consider its future.

With a $2.5-million operating deficit, Pierce needs to shore up its finances if it hopes to provide the kind of education its students expect and deserve. Whether to develop raw land is not an easy decision--particularly for a public institution that has a responsibility to its neighbors.

But Pierce administrators have little choice. The problem for them is how to develop the land as responsibly as possible without sacrificing the school’s fiscal future.