Ojai Valley Golf Project May Be Back on Course

A late Japanese media tycoon’s dream of building an upscale golf course in the Ojai Valley is being resurrected by a New York investment group.

However, environmental critics are just as upset about the revamped plans for the Farmont Golf Course as they were during the six-year fight before the original project was approved in 1993.

Promoters say the course, designed by high-profile golf architect Tom Fazio, would draw enthusiasts from throughout California, complementing the private course at the Ojai Valley Inn and the public course at Soule Park.

But the current owners of the 2,000 acres on which the 200-acre course would be built, New York developer Intell Management & Investment Corp., have a different vision for the course than the late Kagehisa Toyama had.

His plan, approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, was for a private club for Japanese businessmen, offering no more than 35 rounds a day to an elite group. Intell wants a public course offering 130 rounds a day.

Also, Toyama pledged a 1,500-acre easement to the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy; Intell has withdrawn that commitment and could subdivide the unused acreage, selling parcels for about half a dozen high-priced mini-ranches.

In the environmentally conscious Ojai Valley, Toyama’s proposal had faced fierce opposition. The plan approved by supervisors had been scaled back significantly from the version he first pitched in 1987. After a permit was granted, the plan was delayed by two lawsuits, both of which failed.

Intell’s expanded proposal has triggered concerns over everything from traffic to water to trout.

“Most people don’t believe the Ojai Valley needs a third golf course,” said Alasdair Coyne, president of Keep the Sespe Wild. “The end goal of the environmental community is to see this entire area preserved as open space, with no water use.”

On Tuesday, environmentalists asked the Board of Supervisors to require an environmental impact study based on the proposed changes, a move that might stall the project for years.

“I would urge you to seek a higher environmental review,” said Russ Baggerly, president of Environmental Coalition of Ventura County, which had sued to stop the earlier project.

Supervisors are not leaning in that direction. County planners have instead recommended a limited review to supplement the environmental impact report that supervisors signed off on nine years ago. The supplement would focus on how increased use of the land might affect air quality and traffic. It also would examine possible effects on the Ventura River habitat of the steelhead trout.

At Supervisor Steve Bennett’s urging, however, supervisors agreed that any additional study should examine how the changes would affect water use and ground water levels.

Supervisors will take the matter up again at a meeting Jan. 29.

Lindsay F. Nielson, the Ventura attorney who represented Toyama and now represents Intell, characterized foes’ criticisms as political.

“Before, the complaint was it’s an elite golf course and it’s going to be very expensive to join,” he said. “Now that it’s a public course, the argument is that it’s going to invite too many people. These are really straw-man issues.”

Nielson said developers would still be allowed to pump no more than 407 acre-feet per year of water from the upper Ventura River system, the limit set in 1993. And he disagreed with claims that more foot traffic on the course and the possibility of a handful of mini-ranches would substantially increase the need for water.

“You’re not going to water it more because you have more people,” he said of the course, adding that low-flow toilets would be installed in the clubhouse.

Environmentalists countered that the county should not take developers at their word and should do the extra study to assess effects scientifically.

Nielson also said that of all the projects possible on the 2,000 acres, the Intell golf course is one of the more environmentally sensitive.

If foes had let the 1993 plan proceed, they wouldn’t be in this situation now, he said. “The Ojai community overplayed its cards.”