CordeValle country club is trying to cut a deal with Santa Clara
County that would establish a youth foundation generating $25,000 a
year in charitable donations in lieu of increasing public
access.
CordeValle country club is trying to cut a deal with Santa Clara County that would establish a youth foundation generating $25,000 a year in charitable donations in lieu of increasing public access.
The foundation would fund existing youth sports programs and host some events that would ultimately expand into a student scholarship and grant program.
If Santa Clara County planning commissioners sign off on the deal, the tony San Martin golf course would not have to open its greens to the public seven days a week as county staff has recommended.
The Planning Commission delayed making a decision on whether to accept the offer from CordeValle.
CordeValle officials will have to make their case again at the Sept. 4 planning commission meeting, when commissioners will review further the public access issue.
A full agenda and a separate review of who should pay for monitoring CordeValle’s environmental impact mitigation took time from the public play discussion.
“We were disappointed in the results of the commission hearing,” CordeValle General Manager Joe Root said. “Hopefully this will get settled next month.”
The county initiated a process to revoke or modify CordeValle’s use permit last year after a Bay Area sportswriter and golfing enthusiasts complained there was insufficient public access to the 18-hole, 7,169 yard, par 72 course.
CordeValle’s permits require 60 percent of tee times to be open to the public.
At issue is the definition of public access. CordeValle tallied tee times for its lodge guests and guests of members as public play. However, in August 2002, the county made the club allow phone-in registration for Monday through Wednesday tee times.
Now the county is pushing for seven-day-a-week phone-in access.
“We don’t think its fair of the county to require that,” said Barry Shiller, a San Martin planning group member. “From the beginning, CordeValle believed non-member guests counted toward its public access requirements. Their whole financial model for business was based on that.”
As for the environmental issues, planning commissioners decided CordeValle should pay the costs associated with monitoring mitigation measures.
A letter from the state Department of Fish and Game lists 20 environmental mitigation measures CordeValle may be out of compliance with.
A key piece of mitigation CordeValle has yet to satisfy is the construction of ponds for certain species lost due to construction at the site.
“We’re still going over all the mitigations to get a clear picture of what CordeValle still needs to do,” county planner Gary Rudholm said. “It’s a complicated process.”
