Michael Schlesinger, who owns the Poway, Calif., property, has reached a three-point agreement with a group of neighboring homeowners that calls for an improved 18-hole golf course to remain open on the land, with a renovated clubhouse. The plan limits a potential housing development, stipulating that it be built on no more than 12% of the land.
A three-point agreement reached between the StoneRidge Country Club in Poway, Calif., and a group of neighboring homeowners calls for an improved 18-hole golf course to remain open and for housing to be built on no more than 12% of the land, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
CalAtlantic is interested in building an age-restricted development on the course and is “part of our team at this point,” said Sara Ellis, a spokesperson for golf club owner Michael Schlesinger.
Schlesinger’s planners have started working on the project, which Ellis said could conceivably include up to 180 units of housing on 15 acres. The “exact product type” of housing that would be offered is still being worked out, Ellis said.
Bill Ostrem, president of CalAtlantic’s San Diego division, said Monday the housing might be a mix use of single-family homes and townhomes or condominiums. Ideally, it would be in a gated community, the Union-Tribune reported.
Allowing homes on the golf course would have to be approved by city voters under provisions of Proposition FF. Noting that the next general election is two years away, Ellis said Schlesinger might consider a special election, but no decision has been made, the Union-Tribune reported.
Opened in 1962, StoneRidge includes an 18-hole regulation golf course, an unlit practice range, nine lighted tennis courts, a junior Olympic swimming pool, a clubhouse of approximately 15,000 sq. ft., a pro shop and related facilities, the Union-Tribune reported.
Schlesinger purchased the golf course out of bankruptcy in 2013 and was unsuccessful in repeated efforts to sell it. This past spring he hired a public relations firm to conduct a telephone poll and door-to-door interviews on the idea of building homes on part of the land and giving the rest to the city for the possible operation of a nine-hole golf course or for park land. That stirred significant pushback from both neighbors and club members, who organized and held a public meeting attended by over 300 people. Out of that meeting came the formation of a group now called Poway Open Space, Inc. with a 15-member board and Mitch Steller serving as chief executive officer, the Union-Tribune reported.
Steller and Jim Wait have been meeting with Ellis, who works for Roni Hicks and Associates public relations firm and is representing Schlesinger, the Union-Tribune reported.
“Mitch and his board sat down with us, very skeptically,” Ellis said. “They took a little bit of a leap of faith with us.”
“As a team, we have identified mutual goals and are looking at possible solutions to reach the best possible outcome for both the owners and the StoneRidge Country club members, surrounding homeowners and the larger Poway community,” Steller said.
The agreement reached calls for up to 12% (15 acres) of the golf course to be developed for housing, significant improvements to the club and “the forever preservation of 105 acres of open space for Poway (the golf course),” Steller said. A new clubhouse is among the promised improvements, the Union-Tribune reported.
Meanwhile, Schlesinger has invested an estimated $300,000 in golf course improvements, Ellis said. New management staff has been brought in as well, the Union-Tribune reported.
“The greens are spectacular and the fairways are coming along,” Steller said Monday.
Ellis said the timetable calls for a general community meeting on the proposed plans some time before February. She said Schlesinger is interested in learning what type of public amenities might be offered at the new clubhouse, the Union-Tribune reported.
Both Ellis and Steller said that if the matter goes before city voters, they will have “enough details to make a comprehensive, informed decision.” Steller said meetings between his group and Ellis will likely resume after the holidays, the Union-Tribune reported.
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