The Vallejo City Council approved preliminary plans for redeveloping the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course Tuesday, voting to move the clubhouse to where the driving range is now located and make the west course a 9-hole, par-3 course.
Blue Rock Springs is presently comprised of two city-owned 18-hole golf courses — the east and west courses — on either side of Columbus Parkway. The plans for retooling the golf course and clubhouse are only part of a proposed redevelopment project that involves building hundreds of new homes.
Tuesday’s decisions only involved the clubhouse and golf course aspects of the project. The vote was unanimous with Councilmember Charles Palmares absent.
The vote also included a friendly amendment by Councilmember Tonia Lediju for the developer to explore the idea of having a youth clubhouse or youth center on the property that is to be retained in ownership by the city.
Other details of the preliminary plans passed Tuesday include locating a dining room and bar adjacent to the driving range, a banquet hall for 350 and parking for 371. The improvements will take place in phases, with one of the phases including golf cart storage under the clubhouse. At present, there is capacity for 350 people, and the preliminary plan is to increase to 500 people over the long term.
The options chosen by the council put the costs at around $16.3 million, without any upgrades or redesign of concepts, according to Haen’s staff report, which was published before the friendly amendment was accepted.
Blue Rock Springs is a city-owned facility. A previous council approved the sale of approximately 75 acres of the golf course in December 2022 for $400,000. Eight months later, it was advertised for sale with an $18 million price quote from the office of the new owner, Blue Rock Springs LLC, owned by the Lewis Management Corporation, with an incomplete profit sharing agreement with the city.
That development sparked public outcry. In December 2024 the council approved in the second of two steps a profit sharing agreement creating a $10.5 million minimum compensation to the city for the land. The agreement also arranges for the city to share in any profits from the sale of finished homes the LLC is able to negotiate with homebuilders, among other things.
During the public comment period, Ruben Galvan, a field representative of NorCal Carpenters Union Local 180 in Vallejo, urged the council to ensure that there will be strong labor standards on the project, “to make sure contractors pay properly and provide safe working conditions.”
Vallejo resident Anne Carr said, “I would hope something Vallejo would get out of this would be a facility non-golfers could look to for events like weddings.” She also suggested “doing something that would open it up to people who don’t normally golf.”
After the public comment period, Councilmember Helen-Marie Gordon asked if the facility was open to the public.
“If we wanted to golf and we weren’t members, we could golf. We also could have lunch and a drink,” Haen responded.
“Or lease the clubhouse or event center,” added Jeb Elmore, vice president – managing director, land acquisition at Lewis Management Corp., the company that partnered with Greg Norman Company to form Blue Rock Springs LLC.
A third member of the public said, “My husband and I and our neighbors have several concerns about the view that’s going to be impacted.”
The woman noted that she and her neighbors had bought custom homes decades ago near the golf course, and the view and open space were important factors in the decision.
Now, the plan “to fit upwards of 600 compacted homes in an area that has custom homes” is of concern, she said, also acknowledging that the evening’s discussion was about the golf course and clubhouse, not the proposed homes.
Councilmember Alexander Matias asked Haen and Elmore to respond.
Elmore said, “The majority of the (existing) housing exists north of the golf course and there is a cul-de-sac on the south side of the course with custom homes. When you live 100 feet atop a hill and you are looking down at the course it’s going to be nearly impossible to mitigate.”
He added, “We can enhance landscaping below, we can enhance roof profiling.” He said he will continue to collaborate with the neighbors “on things we can do.”
Haen said, “There still will be a buffer there. It’s not going to be a house on their property line. There is an outlined area for future development but the development in that area hasn’t been defined, so maybe there’s a way to be less dense where they are looking.”
After additional discussion, the council voted on the item at 1:11 a.m.
Additional reporting on the council meeting will be published later in the week.
