County Overrules Cities’ Protest, OKs Golf Driving Ranges

Brushing aside the arguments of Moorpark and Thousand Oaks officials, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved plans to build two golf driving ranges in the Tierra Rejada Valley, an agricultural oasis that separates the two cities.

In voting for the projects, which would sit on opposite sides of Tierra Rejada Road just east of the Moorpark Freeway, supervisors sided with the county’s Planning Commission, which in November approved construction of both ranges.

Moorpark and Thousand Oaks had appealed the commission’s decisions, saying the two ranges would represent an urban intrusion into the rural area.

One of the projects, they noted, would be built inside the Tierra Rejada Greenbelt, a swath of farmland and open space that all three eastern Ventura County cities have agreed to protect. The other range would lie just across the road.

The third city, Simi Valley, did not oppose the ranges.

“Do golf course driving ranges belong in an open-space and agricultural greenbelt that was set aside for its intrinsic value?” Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Elois Zeanah asked the supervisors Tuesday. “The answer is no.”

Three of the supervisors, however, said driving ranges were the kind of low-intensity project that belonged in the area.

“This is a perfect use,” said Supervisor Judy Mikels, who represents Moorpark, Simi Valley and the Tierra Rejada Valley. “It’s green. It’s open. It’s recreational.”

Only Supervisor Frank Schillo, who represents Thousand Oaks, sided with the two cities, saying he is concerned about how the projects, with their bright night lighting, would fit in the valley.

“I have some problems about what this will look like in the future,” he said.

The vote was 3 to 1 in favor of the golf driving ranges. Supervisor Susan Lacey was absent.

Although the Planning Commission and supervisors considered both projects side by side, they are the work of two different developers working separately.

One range, proposed by Ralph Mahan, would include 30 tee boxes, three practice holes, a snack stand and parking lot--all on the north side of Tierra Rejada Road.

South of the road, the Tom Barber Golf Center would include 75 tee boxes and a contoured landscape designed to mimic portions of famous golf courses. The Barber center would lie entirely within the greenbelt.

Mikels noted that the language of the greenbelt agreement said the area should be preserved for agriculture and other uses compatible with open space, which, according to county code, includes outdoor recreation.

“Golf courses and recreational uses were what was envisioned out there,” she said.

And Tom Barber, who runs the golf concession at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, said eastern Ventura County golfers need more places to practice.

“In a world where the kids and people don’t have time for a full round of golf, a driving range is the place you need to be,” he said.

Barber said that with the board’s approval, construction could begin this spring, with the center open either in late summer or early fall.

Mahan said his range could be open within a month.

Alan Sanders, who spoke against the two projects as conservation chairman of the local Sierra Club chapter, said after Tuesday’s meeting that he would explore organizing a countywide referendum to overturn the board’s votes. But Zeanah cautioned that such an effort would be difficult to coordinate.