Golf Course Cleared to Tee Off

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, according to a decision this week.

The panel, led by retired Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne, ruled that the golf course would not need a stream alteration agreement, as the state had demanded, according to the decision.

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

The dispute centered over 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 are necessary to protect fish and wildlife resources within the jurisdiction of the Department of Fish and Game,” the decision said.

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

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

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Foothills Golf received City Council approval in May 1998 to build the 18-hole golf 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 the clearing and grading of property will begin this winter, with the bulk of construction starting in the spring.

The course, which would be privately owned but open to the public, would likely open in 2001, he said.

City Councilman Joel Wachs, in whose district the project would be built, expressed relief.

“I’m pleased to learn the issue has been resolved,” he 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 U. S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected a version of the project because the proposed development would have jeopardized an endangered species, the slender-horned spine flower.

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In 1996, the developers won approval of both the corps and Los Angeles Planning Commission with a revised version of the plan, creating a preserve for the endangered flower. The City Council turned down the project in July 1997, leading the developer to sue the city for $215 million with the claim that the decision was illegal because the project was in compliance with city regulations.

The council later reversed itself and approved the project to settle the lawsuit.

Arbitration Panel Rejects State Plea, Gives OK to Private Red Tail Development