The operator hopes to extend its lease of the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., facility until 2044, with plans to spend $3 million on habitat restoration, and an additional $6 million on refurbishment and extension of club amenities, including adding six tennis courts and a pool.
The Carmel Valley Community Planning Board heard the latest plans for the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., including a lease reassignment and amendment with the city, the Solana Beach, Calif., Rancho Santa Fe Review reported.
At the board’s April 28 meeting, attorney Ryan Waterman spoke about how the new lease will help resolve the long outstanding habitat mitigation issues at Fairbanks Ranch, the Review reported.
The city owns the country club property, which was deeded to them by the original developers in the 1980s—a deed restriction requires that it must remain a golf club, the Review reported.
According to Bay Club spokesperson Rachel Laing, the original golf club tenants were unable to make it work financially after the recession hit so eventually they started looking for someone to take over the lease. San Francisco-based Bay Club Company is now operating the club as they complete the process of getting the lease reassigned to them, the Review reported.
Waterman said Bay Club’s intent is to make the club a more family-friendly environment and operate in partnership with Bay Club Carmel Valley in San Diego, the Review reported.
The action proposed to San Diego City Council is a lease with Bay Club until 2044. Bay Club would operate under an amended lease that includes the major investment in habitat restoration, the Review reported.
“Bay Club will give some real TLC to the habitat, upgrade and extend it to reach 147 acres,” Waterman said, noting that the restoration represents $3 million worth of habitat restoration.
The restoration includes cleaning up the San Dieguito River bed, taking out invasive species and doing a little bit of planting in some areas. As a condition of the lease they will maintain the property for the length of the lease, estimated to be about $100,000 per year. The work substantially expands the original habitat mitigation requirement of 109 acres, the Review reported.
Bay Club also intends to plug an additional $6 million into refurbishment and extension of the country club, including the addition of six tennis courts and a pool, the Review reported.
Waterman said they hope to have the lease agreement approved by City Council in the next few months, the Review reported.
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