valley forum6-2hm/mike1st/mark2nd Plans to build an 18-hole golf course at Big Tujunga Wash near Sunland have been a source of contention between opponents who want to preserve the ecologically sensitive wash and supporters who wish to see more public golf courses in the area. There are currently six public golf courses in the San Fernando Valley. Los Angeles City Council members will decide by June 10 whether to accept the proposed 350-acre project. The Business Journal Forum asks: Does the Valley need another golf course? Benjamin Reznik Senior Partner Law Firm of Reznik & Reznik Yes. I think the Valley needs a more inexpensive public golf course. A lot of people would like to play golf, and it’s difficult to get on a public course. The people who can’t afford to play Monday through Friday are dependent on public courses. There’s a competing demand for them. Dr. Adrian Ortega Assistant Professor of Surgery University of Southern California We don’t need another golf course. There’s plenty of them around. We already have a golf course near Sunland, about a mile away from my home. Mark Murphy General Manager Braemar Country Club On the public side, it could use another one. I know some of the public courses right now do an extreme amount of rounds. On our side, the private, it’s probably fine. There’s not a great urgency for another private. But the golfers are really the ones who need to answer that question. Lynne Plambeck Member The Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter I think it’s time that the Valley and L.A. County in general begin considering where its water resources come from. Golf courses are big consumers of water; they may not be the best use of that resource. If you’re going to weigh that against jobs, you may create more jobs by using it (water) in industry. It’s time for the region to weigh the costs of water and decide where the more-efficient use may lie and it may not lie with golf courses. Kathy Anthony President Tujunga-Sunland Chamber of Commerce Absolutely. Our community needs upgrading. And what better way can you upgrade except for a new golf course? It would be like our front yard, just a mile away. I think it will only enhance the community. (Golfing) is not a big business. It fits our town with mom-and-pop shops. Walter N. Prince Chairman Planning and Land Use Committee PRIDE I really have mixed emotions. My own feelings are that it should be left up to the residents. They’re the ones that have to put up with the traffic, look at the lights. I think that that is really a neighborhood issue. It really should be surveyed.
