Note:
Center for Biological Diversity and other organizations on March 2, 2011 filed
in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco
a lawsuit for
declaratory relief and injunctive relief to close golf operations at Sharp Park
Golf Course. A copy of the complaint is
linked, above.
Following is the
statement of the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance,
which has been a
leading voice in the defense of Sharp Park Golf Course
since the
environmental controversy over golf course operations there surfaced in
2009.
We think the
lawsuit is premature, not well-founded, and will ultimately be
unsuccessful.
The lawsuit
makes the same claims that Center for Biological Diversity and its allies
have
been making
for the past two and a half years in their unsuccessful efforts to close
Sharp Park Golf Course.
We
think that the plaintiffs' claims
are narrow and unreasonable, and
do not
recognize the legitimate interests of golfers, historic
preservationists,
local
businesses, and governmental entities in San Francisco, Pacifica, and San
Mateo County
that want to
keep Sharp Park Golf Course open.
San
Francisco's Recreation and Park Department has adopted and is following
an
Environmental Compliance Plan at Sharp Park.
San
Francisco retained the preeminent consulting biologists to develop a plan to protect
the
frog and snake at Sharp Park. In
December, 2009, the Department adopted a plan to improve natural habitat,
while
keeping the golf course open. That
plan is undergoing environmental review as we
speak,
but
the issues are complex, and environmental review takes time.
The final Environmental Impact Report
is not
expected to be complete before late
2011.
The frogs
and snakes are not the only interest at Sharp Park.
There are
homeowners endangered by flooding.
The golf
course is an 80-year-old business that is a favorite
meeting
place for the Pacifica community, and employs 3 dozen
people.
The golf
course is historically and architecturally
significant,
being one of
the very few public courses in the world built by Alister MacKenzie,
history's
best-known, and many would say greatest golf architect.
Sharp Park
Golf Course is supported by resolutions from the San Mateo County
Board of
Supervisors, Pacifica City Council, Pacifica Chamber of
Commerce,
Northern California
Golf Association and World Golf Foundation.
The
Cultural Landscape Foundation of Washington
DC
has
designated Sharp Park as a threatened national cultural landscape
treasure.
The Golf
Course is supported by Laborer's Local 261, whose members are the gardeners
there.
Sharp Park
Golf Course is the single most affordable public 18-hole golf course in the Bay
Area.
It is one of
only two public 18-hole golf courses in San Mateo
County
with prime
weekend greens fees under $80.
The course
has a devoted, racially and culturally diverse
clientele of
men, women, senior, and junior golfers.
So it is not only a beautiful, historically and
artistically significant golf course --
it is a
critical recreational asset for Bay Area working-class people.
For that
reason, Sharp Park Golf Course has received unanimous supporting
resolutions from the San Mateo County
Board of
Supervisors and the Pacifica City Council. The San Francisco Rec &
Park Department and its
citizens' advisory committee, the Budget and Finance Committee of the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors,
have all
within the past 18 months conducted public hearings and rejected the Center
for Biological Diversity's efforts
to
close the course. In October, 2010
and January, 2011, the San Francisco Public Utilities and Recreation and Park
Commissions
rejected
CBD's effort to block a recycled water irrigation project for Sharp Park Golf
Course.
That $8
Million recycled water project is going forward, and groundbreaking was held
just this month.
San
Francisco Public Golf Alliance believes that reasonably-priced public golf
together with improved habitat for
the frogs
and snakes is the best plan for Sharp Park. And we think that the court
will ultimately
reach the
same conclusion that all these other public bodies have reached -- that the
golfers, the frog and snake
can continue
to coexist at Sharp Park, as they have for 80
years.
CONTACT:
Richard
Harris
San Francisco Public
Golf Alliance
415-290-5718
(cell)
3 comments:
Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Equity couldn't convince the public with their arguments, so they need to resort to a lawsuit.
WEI and CBD must be broke so they need to soak us the taxpayers who unwittingly and unknowingly fund their neverending litigation activities.
Parasites. Feeding on the host.
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