The undetermined future of the closed Cherry Hills Golf Course following its recently announced sale brought the ire and concern of those Sun City residents living near the course at the Wednesday, Jan. 17 Menifee City Council meeting.
During the city council’s public comments on non-agenda items, a number of Menifee’s Sun City residents took the podium to express their concern about the closure of the golf course that was bought by private development group Ambient Communities that reportedly builds residential and commercial buildings. Several of the residents said they vow to fight the city in the event any zone changes are requested by the developer.
In a Facebook post, Menifee Mayor Pro Tem Bob Karwin wrote the new ownership group has no immediate plans for the future use of the golf course that is zoned for passive recreation. He reported, however, it was not going to be used as a new golf course. This portion of the former golf course is in addition to the closure by the former owners of the North Course in 2017.
Sun City resident Greg August and a former city council member who lives in Sun City took the podium first to express his concern about the course sale and future use. He mentioned Ambient Communities from Encinitas may have been the purchasers who say they have no plans for reopening it and “will keep it closed.” He suggested that the 2,000 Sun City residents may now lose their advantages of having open space (without the golf course) out of their backyards.
He praised the former manager of the golf course who was keeping it open for use by private, public and nonprofits groups and overseeing many needed improvements. With that, he urged Sun City residents, “Not to give up yet.”
Resident Mark Wade informed the council and residents that four tracks on the golf course are zoned as open space recreation because they were in a flood zone among other reasons. He urged the council not to make any changes in that zone because of the current designations.
“I believe this community will stand up to these pirates (the new owners). They are trying to destroy a championship golf course that I live on.” He says it is destroying the hopes of the 2,200 people who live on the course for recreation and wish to keep a beautiful community. He said those residents will organize and vote against any zoning changes for, “… those who will allow the destruction of this community.”
Another Sun City resident, Ray Carpenter, who lives and plays on the course, stood to tell the council if the FEMA flood zone designation comes up for change, “The citizens of Sun City and particularly those who live on the golf course, are deadly against it and will take any step we can to stop the change.”
Karwin, in his council comments told the Sun City residents concerned about the future of the Cherry Hills Golf Course that the new owners, Ambient Communities, are calling a community meeting on Friday, Feb. 2, at the Fairfield Inn & Suites at 30140 Town Center Dr. in Menifee at 9 a.m. to answer questions about the future of the property and seek input from the Sun City residents about what they want to see, or be done with the property. They are also seeking residents’ comments about the property at www.ambietncommunities.com.
Other community meetings will be planned, said Mayor Pro Tem Karwin who represents District 1 in the Sun City area of Menifee on the city council.
In other business, the full Menifee City Council heard a very detailed report from staff about the necessity to change the housing related provisions of the city’s Development Code to comply with California’s mandatory new Housing Element. Basically the state now requires all cities to provide more affordable housing for those who have lower incomes and to reduce the growing number of homeless in the state. If the cities do not comply with the state’s mandated housing element, they could unfortunately face serious fines, according to Menifee’s City Attorney Jeffrey Melching.
This meant the Menifee City Council had to approve the state’s requirement to allow Accessory Housing Units or ADUs on single family lots zoned as residential and also in commercial zones and those units must be affordable to the lower income populations. The new mandatory Housing Elements meant some major changes to the city’s own previous housing zones and codes, much to the chagrin of the council. The council therefore had to pass the new amendments or face stringent state fines or the state taking over the city’s own housing developments. The vote was 4 to 1 with Council Member Lesa Sobek voting no. “One single thing does not apply to all,” Sobek said of her vote.
The details of the new codes can be heard on the Jan.17 Menifee City Council meeting video online, which can be found at https://www.cityofmenifee.us/88/Agendas-Minutes-and-Videos.
The council heard from Menifee Police Chief Chris Karrer in a police department update who said the department received 13,000 calls in the last three fiscal year months (Oct-Dec) that brought 1,424 reports. He said officers made 399 arrests with most of them for possession of illegal drugs, but the numbers of domestic violence cases and arrests were down considerably in the time period. He said the domestic violence reduction cases is one of the goals his department wants to achieve.
The department’s new HOPE team, according to the chief, made 32 new contacts with the homeless in the city, some repeated and responded to 88 calls on people with mental health problems.
Menifee resident Stacy Hartfiel who volunteers and helps numerous community organizations including the Boys & Girls Club, Rotary Club, Menifee Chamber of Commerce, Lake Menifee Women’s Club and many others was named the Menifee Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the city council.
The relatively new Savage Chef Bar and Grill was placed on the Menifee Business Spotlight for the month of January. Savage Chef brings high quality food menus to the city and helps many city organizations..
The council approved 20 consent items, heard a favorable fiscal year end financial report, and named city council members to the council’s subcommittees, regional boards and commissions.
Tony Ault can be reached at tault@reedermedia.com.
