Cubreporter (Cubreporter)
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Post Number: 50
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 9:17 am: | |
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Golf course may lose ground
Lease for back nine of Newport Beach Golf Course is up soon, and county might pave land for airport parking.
By JEFF OVERLEY
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Regulars at the Newport Beach Golf Course are teed off by word that the county might turn their low-priced links into a parking lot.
The lease for the back nine of the 18-hole course expires July 31, and John Wayne Airport officials are mulling a plan to replace fairways with parking stalls. "As the airport does with any lease when it expires, we always take a look and say, 'What is the highest and best use for this particular property?' " said Courtney Wiercioch, an airport spokeswoman. "No decisions have been made."
The course's 35-year lease expired in January but was extended for six months so county officials could explore options for the land.
Suspense surrounding the 32-acre property's fate is rankling co-owner Steve Lane, who opened the public links in 1976. "We're in a limbo state," he said. "They won't make up their minds or give us an answer. It's driving us crazy."
Uncertainty hasn't stopped patrons from marshaling opposition, however. This week, "several thousand" signatures were gathered in protest, course manager Jim Forgash said. "A lot of the residents are getting irate, and they're starting to mobilize," he said.
Half the course is safe, as the front nine is owned by the Irvine Co. and has more than a decade still on its lease.
But losing half the 3,500-yard course would hobble one of the area's few affordable golf venues, officials say. Greens fees range from $17 to $25, making it among the cheapest 18-hole courses in Orange County, according to www.golf.com. It's also a lighted course, letting players chip, putt and drive until 10 p.m. "The price is right (and) you can use every club in your bag," Lane said. "It's a really good community asset."
Newport Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, who said she's received 300 calls and e-mails on the issue, is asking Airport Director Alan Murphy to discuss the matter at an Aviation Committee meeting Monday. "This golf course is an institution in our community," Daigle said. "The city is trying to get out in front of this issue."
Lane speculated that Newport's longtime animosity toward airport noise might help shore up support. "They don't want to have that airport expanded in any way, shape or form," he said.
Any decision to pave the course would go through county staff, the Airport Commission and county supervisors. "It's very early in that process," Wiercioch said. "The airport," she added, "has always been a good neighbor and will continue to do that."
Contact the writer: 714-445-6683 or joverley@ocregister.com
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