Golf Project in Big Tujunga Wash Wins Approval

An arbitration panel has cleared the way for construction of the 352-acre Red Tail Golf Course and Equestrian Center in the Big Tujunga Wash area, rejecting attempts by the state Department of Fish and Game to block the project.

The panel, led by retired Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne, ruled this week that the project would not need a special state permit for stream bed alteration as Fish and Game had demanded.

Mark Armbruster, a lawyer for the developer, and Ron Remple of Fish and Game also served on the mediation panel. Remple, who did not sign the decision, did not return calls for comment.

The dispute centered on the definition of the stream bed, according to the decision dated Monday. Fish and Game had argued that the stream bed should be defined as a 265-acre area. But the panel ruled that the active stream bed area is substantially smaller and that no state permit is needed as long as the development bypasses that area.

“No additional conditions,” the decision said, “are necessary to protect fish and wildlife resources within the jurisdiction of the Department of Fish and Game.”

Los Angeles City Planning Director Con Howe said Tuesday that construction can begin at any time.

“I don’t know of any other hurdle to the project,” Howe said. “The Planning Commission and City Council have authorized the project, and there are no discretionary approvals required from the city.”

Foothills Golf got council approval in May 1998 to build the 18-hole course, a two-story clubhouse and horse trails.

Those plans were put on hold when state officials stepped in and said the Florida-based developer needed the stream alteration agreement.

Both sides eventually agreed to enter into arbitration, where Wayne sided with Foothills Golf.

“We bent over backward to do everything to reach an agreement [before arbitration],” Armbruster said. “But it became clear that the Department of Fish and Game wanted to stop the project in its entirety by imposing conditions nobody could live with.”

Armbruster said clearing and grading of property will begin this winter, with the bulk of construction starting next spring.

The course, which will be privately owned but open to the public, and will probably open in 2001, he said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, in whose district the golf course is to be built, expressed relief.

“I’m pleased to learn the issue has been resolved,” Wachs said. “We worked hard to ensure that many significant conditions were imposed on the project that would protect and preserve this environmentally sensitive area.”

The developer has put forward several proposals for a golf course in Big Tujunga Wash since 1987. In 1994, the Army Corps of Engineers rejected a version of the project because it would have jeopardized an endangered species, the slender-horned spine flower.