Rancho P.V. OKs Start of Talks on Golf Course

The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council has authorized city staff members to negotiate with two private property owners and two public agencies whose cooperation is required for construction of a proposed municipal golf course.

The 18-hole, 140-acre course would be built partly on Point Vicente Park land where Hawthorne Boulevard meets the coastline.

City Manager Dennis McDuffie said portions of the course would be included within two proposed private developments--a Monaghan Co. resort hotel at the old Marineland site and a 95-home residential development by the VMS/Anden Group north of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center.

The venture is also contingent on Los Angeles County and the federal National Park Service permitting a golf course on the undeveloped parkland. The interpretive center sits on a 28-acre parcel of county-owned land, which the city leases. Some of that property would be used for the golf course. The bulk of the parkland was deeded to the city by the federal government and earmarked for passive recreational use. A golf course would require a change in deed restrictions.

McDuffie said the golf course would benefit all three prospective participants--the hotel, which needs an attraction for guests, the residential development and the city, which would gain a public course and open space. The concept, however, already has drawn criticism from some environmentalists, who charge that the course improperly benefits developers.

McDuffie is scheduled to report back to the council on the negotiations in 60 days.