Let’s take a closer look at the proposed golf course at the Great Park. Here’s a little history: In 2013, Councilmember Christina Shea teamed up with residential developer FivePoint Communities to give control of the Great Park design and facilities to FivePoint. Shea’s “vision” for the Great Park — then and now — is to wipe out the 200-acre Great Park Canyon, the most popular feature of the Great Park Design offered by Master Designer Ken Smith, and replace it with an 18-hole golf course. This would be Irvine’s fifth golf course.
But on further investigation, I’ve discovered this isn’t a traditional golf course. Shea is proposing what developer FivePoint Communities wants — a “links-style” golf course that is cheap to build with very few trees, lots of sand dunes, and very little vegetation. All in all, pretty unattractive.
So, do we really want to spend millions on a money-losing Great Park Links-Style Golf Course? Or should we use available Great Park funds to reinstate Ken Smith’s magnificent Great Park Canyon — with its many hiking and biking trails, picnic areas and campgrounds, trees and foliage, and birds, butterflies and other wildlife?
Maybe it’s time to ask the people of Irvine what they think.
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