FULL HOUSE – Chair Emily Thomas speaks during last week’s Planning Commission meeting. The body attracted one of its largest-ever crowds for a discussion about the future of a local golf course. (Drew Penner / Los Gatan)
It was standing room only last Wednesday at Planning Commission as residents wearing green stickers filed into the pews at the Civic Center in support of a physical reshaping of La Rinconada Country Club’s property.
Others came to share frustrations with the plan to remove 287 trees (including 150 redwoods) but only replant 173.
The applicant explained that, following in the footsteps of courses across the country, they wanted to move towards Bermuda grass that requires less watering—though for it to thrive, they need to allow more light to hit the fairways, roughs and greens.
A MoveOn.org petition against the landscaping proposal gathered more than 100 signatures, including people from Hawaii and Colorado (and Lisa Sieber, the creator, signed it twice).
Commissioner Steve Raspe said the removal of some trees seemed a fair price to pay for the environmental and safety benefits of the project.
‘I typically don’t love golf courses’
—Emily Thomas, Planning Commission chair
Chair Emily Thomas, who holds a master’s degree in ecosystem services, said the Mountain View school where she teaches recently went through a redevelopment.
“We really missed a huge opportunity,” she said, noting there were tree removals proposed in that case, too. “Our replacement trees, we planted a lot of non-native plants. And, although a lot of them are drought-tolerant, it was not the best that could have been done. So, as an environmentalist, I typically don’t love golf courses. I’m not gonna lie about that—because of the environmental impact. So, when I saw this on our agenda, I just originally was like, Ugh. I’m going to really have to put my Planning Commissioner hat on and just try to do a really great job of sticking to what we’re supposed to be making our decisions about up here. Then, when I read the application I was just really excited that something like this was happening in Los Gatos. Because, making these types of decisions—it’s not always black and white. And it is really difficult sometimes.”
She said she was glad to see there were a lot of oak trees among the species to be replanted.
“Although I do love coastal redwoods—and actually, my favorite ecotone is where the redwoods and the oaks meet—that is not this location in Los Gatos,” she said.
The applicant noted that the property originally was a chaparral landscape; the redwoods were only planted in the 1960s and ’70s. It also pointed out that more than 100 trees have fallen on the course in the past few years.
“I do think we’ve got an organization that’s going to follow through with what their commitments are,” Commissioner Rob Stump said.
Vice Chair Kendra Burch made the motion to approve the grading permit and tree removal plan. It was approved unanimously—and included a condition requiring the applicant to replant native species.
