There have been several recent news stories and editorials
written on the subject of the American Institute of Mathematics
’ (Institute) Golf Course developed in the southeast portion of
the City.
There have been several recent news stories and editorials written on the subject of the American Institute of Mathematics’ (Institute) Golf Course developed in the southeast portion of the City.
A revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the facility has just been completed and is now available for public review and input. It can be found at the Morgan Hill Library, City Hall, and will be posted next week on the city’s web site at www.morgan-hill.ca.gov. Once the public has commented on the report, the city will consider and respond to those comments in a final EIR. When that final EIR is certified, the city will then decide on the most appropriate actions to address the environmental impacts of the project.
History
I thought that the public would be interested in knowing a bit more about the history of the course and the city’s actions in response to its construction. As many long-time residents know, this property was developed as a golf course, restaurant and museum many years ago. Originally in the unincorporated section of the county, the property was annexed into the city in 1972 in order to extend city sewer service to the site. The site itself is far removed from all other areas of the City of Morgan Hill. The golf course and restaurant were closed many years ago.
In 1996, the city received an application from the Institute to redevelop the existing golf course and expand its size. When they were informed that the proposed project would require an EIR, the Institute instead limited the scope of the project to a rehabilitation and re-garding of the original course. In 1997, the city issued a grading permit for this limited work. In 1998, it was brought to the city’s attention that a substantial amount of unpermitted additional work had been completed on the property. A “stop-work order” was issued by the Community Development Department.
After further analysis, it became clear that the magnitude of the actually constructed project clearly requires an EIR to be prepared and certified in order to provide a basis for a decision by the city on the future of the facility that will address its environmental impacts. Because much of the construction work had already been completed, our work from this point forward has been extremely challenging and complex. Measuring the environmental impacts of the project is very difficult because the original state of the property has already been altered.
Current status and enforcement actions
In the interim the city has conferred with environmental regulatory agencies, collected information about the site and engaged a variety of consultants to analyze the site in order to most accurately depict the past and present environmental conditions and impacts of the course. The original draft EIR was issued in January 2003. Comments on that document were received from environmental regulatory agencies, members of the public and the Institute. After considering those comments, the city determined that the best course would be to revise the draft EIR and reissue it for further public comment. The revised draft EIR just released is the culmination of this work.
To date, the city has endeavored to prevent further environmental damage by issuing a variety of compliance orders including a stop-work order, requests for inspections and a cease-and-desist order. Other environmental regulatory agencies have not taken direct action but have looked to the city, although the city’s tools for dealing with this matter in the interim are limited. A Temporary Use Permit was issued this past summer that placed conditions on the operation of the golf course as a temporary way of minimizing its environmental impacts. The long process associated with this project and the difficulties encountered in addressing the environmental impacts after the fact are a testament as to why it is important to get a permit before engaging in construction work.
Next steps
Nearly everyone involved in this dispute will agree that this matter has gone on far too long and needs to get resolved. Once a final EIR is adopted by the city, the city will be able to make a final decision about how the environmental impacts of the development can best be addressed or mitigated in a timely matter.
Complex land development issues often require a substantial amount of time and resources to complete. Given the size of this project and the fact that it was constructed without the proper permits, evaluating it has been extremely difficult. When this process is completed, we are confident that the final result will be in compliance with state and local environmental and land use laws and will properly resolve the many biological, physical, and procedural issues that the golf course’s development has generated.
Dennis Kennedy is mayor of Morgan Hill. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at ed******@*************es.com or 779-4106.
