The owners of The Golf Club at Boulder Ridge in San Jose, Calif. have erected “story poles” for a new fitness center and swimming pool, but neighbors are adamantly opposed, contending that an agreement after a land fight 20 years ago held that there would be no further expansion of the property.
“Story poles” have been erected at The Golf Club at Boulder Ridge in San Jose, Calif., that outline the proposed construction of a new fitness center and swimming pool near the clubhouse, the San Jose Mercury-News reported—but residents of the surrounding Almaden Hills Estates development are adamantly opposed to the improvement, contending that a land-use fight 20 years ago resulted in an agreement by the club’s owner, Rocke Garcia, that there would be no further expansion.
Many of Boulder Ridge’s neighbors were upset when county officials originally let Garcia develop his golf course and club on the “wild and tawny, oak-studded foothills” just south of San Jose, the Mercury-News reported. The links, those residents warned two decades ago, would be just the beginning.
Now the owners, in a bid they say is critical to the club’s future, want to add a pool and fitness center, the Mercury-News reported, as the second major upgrade in five years, following completion of a Pavilion Events Center in 2010 that was also the subject of loud protest when it was proposed (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2008/06/12/proposed-event-tent-at-boulder-ridge-gc-riles-nearby-residents/).
“[Garcia] got what he asked for—he got his golf course,” said Scott Sherwood, President of one of two nearby homeowner groups that are opposed to the expansion, along with six environmental and open-space groups. “And now he wants more.”
The dispute, the Mercury-News reported, pits the sensitivities of residents, living in a city known for suburban sprawl and traffic but concerned about further encroachment into coveted open space, against a club whose owners feel it must do more to survive in a changing market.
As owners, Rocke Garcia and his wife Glenda say they must adjust to shifts in the country club market for Boulder Ridge to keep up with other venues, the Mercury-News reported. To that end, after the 2009 addition of the 225-capacity events space, the Garcias now want to build a two-story fitness center and competition-sized swimming pool.
“The swimming aspect has always been part of golf and country clubs,” said Rocke Garcia, a local homebuilder who constructed the nearby Almaden Villas development in the early ’90s. “And every club I know of has added a fitness facility.”
Boulder Ridge occupies 202 acres on a hilltop above the surrounding enclaves of upscale homes just south of Almaden Lake Park, the Mercury-News reported. It’s an enviable site, boasting panoramic views of the Santa Cruz Mountains and centerpieced by a luxurious Craftsman clubhouse built in 2006 from rough-hewn rock.
Golfers have compared Boulder Ridge’s links course to Monterey’s legendary Pebble Beach, the Mercury-News reported, and wildlife is abundant—rabbits dodge foxes and the plentiful deer sometimes have to contend with a prowling puma.
But some who live in the area but aren’t members of the pricey club believe the land—designated as heavily restricted “hillside” territory by the county—has already been built up as much as rules allow, the Mercury-News reported, and aren’t sympathetic to the best-for-business aspects.
“It’s one of those unfortunate things,” Sherwood said. “The model isn’t working on the site he chose.”
Camas Steinmetz, an attorney representing opposition to the expansion plan, told the San Jose Board of Supervisors—which deadlocked on allowing the expansion in November and will return for another vote in February—that there’s no guarantee the project will end with the latest additions, the Mercury-News reported.
“What’s next—tennis courts, a hotel, luxury housing?” Steinmetz said, adding that there’s no assurance “that this piecemeal development will ever end.”
The dispute is rooted in decades of distrust over the development between the owners and the neighbors, the Mercury-News reported. Before the course was built, residents in the surrounding area considered the area a public park, with folks hiking, biking and, because it’s private property, inevitably trespassing.
When the Garcias wanted to build on their land—an initial vision included luxury housing surrounding the course—residents were outraged. And unjustly so, in Glenda Garcia’s view.
“I remember one of the supervisors asking them if they’d ever gotten our permission to use our land,” she told the Mercury-News. “It was like they just decided they felt like picnicking on our front porch.”
City supervisors approved the golf course in 1993 amid residents crying “foul” on cronyism grounds—Rocke Garcia had long been buddies with one supervisor and heavily donated to the campaign of another, the Mercury-News reported. It incensed opponents to the point that one brought an enormous rubber “OK” stamp to the Board meeting and set in motion a drive that would result in a new county ethics code.
In 1994, the Board decided to not allow further development on the site, the Mercury-News reported. But Bart Hechtman, the Garcias’ attorney, said nothing forces the current board to abide by their predecessors’ findings. The two sides are also arguing over whether proper environmental review was done for a project that has evolved since its inception, and whether a fitness center can be considered a supplementary use for a golf course.
The Garcias contend that fitness has now become a natural part of the club experience, the Mercury-News reported. Glenda Garcia said that on an outing to another club property in Los Gatos, Calif. that she considers competitive to Boulder Ridge, she noticed that dozens of the members there were using that facility for amenities she and her husband were not providing. “We need these things,” she said.
Darius Hatami, a golf industry consultant, told the Mercury-News that clubs must diversify offerings to succeed in today’s climate. “You have to bring in people who don’t golf, and find ways to make them start or be part of the club,” Hatami said.
Before San Jose’s Board of Supervisors again hears the matter, Hechtman said, the Garcias intend to sit down with opponents to discuss future plans. “This is the third time we’ve had conflict, and we thought it was time to have a better model going forward,” he said.
Opponents were open to that idea but wary, the Mercury-News reported. “It’s bigger than this one project,” Sherwood said. “It’s about the incremental expansion of projects on open space.”
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